Queen of the Damned
by The Drunk Pixie
Summary: Demetra Elixir, 11-years-old, pure-blood witch, scarred by Lord Voldemort in an unusual way, soon-to-be student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and not your typical Slytherin. DracoOC, rated for language, child abuse, alcohol use.
1. Acceptance and Diagon Alley

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the Elixir family. I wish I owned Harry Potter, cuz then I'd have a lot of money like J.K. Rowling, but sadly, she is more awesome than me.**

This kind of just jumps right into the throw of things, symbolizing the Elixir lifestyle. Quiet and fast.

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><p>It's amazing how excited parents can get when their only child is accepted into one of the only three magic schools in Europe.<p>

The letter came early one morning, congratulating me on being accepted in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, reading in very pretty green script, "Ms. Demetra Elixir, Second Bedroom on the Left, Elixir Family Estate". Being the drama queen she is, Mother nearly smiled. Father immediately wrote one of his best friends and co-workers, Lucius Malfoy, who wrote back saying that his son, Draco, had also been accepted. As soon as Mother quit with the moment of almost-joy, she wrote all of her friends (including Mrs. Malfoy), inviting them to a dinner party to celebrate my 'achievement', set a week before school starts.

Before you ask, yes, Father is one of the twelve members of the Hogwarts Board of Governors. Honestly, I think that if Father didn't already want to have a job, he could quit and our family would still go on for several generations on the _tons_ of money that has collected over the many, many generations. However, Father has never been one to sit still for very long, so he enjoys getting to go to work every day and tiring himself out. Knowing him, he will never retire, but work until the day he dies for fear of sheer boredom.

Mother's sort of the same way; she just has other means of keeping herself busy. Her job, though, is making sure that our house runs smoothly each and every day. I can remember once when I was a little girl, something catastrophic happened in the kitchen because of the elves (not sure what it was, now), and Father was very, very displeased to see the entire house a mess because of it… The next time I saw Mother, which wasn't until the day after, she was sporting a black eye, cleverly-hidden bruises all over (I only knew this because I happened to catch her changing shirts in a mirror), and a twisted ankle. After this incident, Mother's vigilance was redoubled, which meant that she had even less time for me than she normally did, and rarely did I ever see Father, let alone speak to him for fear of suffering his wrath as well. It didn't help that was a daily and constant reminder of-no, we don't speak of that anymore.

Anyway…

As Mother was getting her responses back, I looked over the letter.

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Miss Elixir,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall Deputy Headmistress_

I grinned widely, very pleased that I had been accepted. Suddenly, the letter was snatched from my hands, the smile immediately disappearing. Mother gave me a disapproving look, and then read the letter over quickly. She grabbed a nearby parchment, one of her nicer quills, her dark blue inkwell (the only color my family used either than silver or green, since it's Mother's favorite, but Father prefers using the Slytherin House colors), and laid them on a table. She beckoned me over, and she told me exactly what to write as a response.

_Dear Professor McGonagall,_

_Thank you for sending the letter. Will see you September 1st. Hope you're well._

_Ms. Demetra Elixir_

Father suddenly beckoned over Mother, and the two of them spoke to each other in low tones, not trusting my listening ears. Used to it, I rolled up the parchment and attached it to Brutus, our family's Eagle Owl. I gave him a treat, told him to take it to Professor McGonagall at Hogwarts, and opened the nearest window. I watched him fly off into the distance until Mother called me over. She was reaching for the jar of Floo powder when I walked over. She gave me a handful, and told me her and I were to leave for Diagon Alley immediately.

We transported inside our usual fireplace at Borgin and Burkes, when I noticed Mother carrying a necklace I had never seen before. She quickly sold it to Mr. Burkes and gave me the money before I could ask what it was. Knowing that the money was partially to keep me quiet, I didn't ask.

As we walked out of Knockturn Alley and back into Diagon Alley, she handed me a sheet of paper that had been included in the letter from Hogwarts, but I hadn't had a chance to read it yet.

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_UNIFORM First-year students will require: sets of plain work robes (black) plain pointed hat (black) for day wear pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar) winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings) Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags._

_COURSE BOOKS All students should have a copy of each of the following:_

_The Standard Book of Spells(Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk_

_A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot_

_Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling_

_A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch_

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore_

_Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger_

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander_

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble_

_OTHER EQUIPMENT_

_1 wand_

_1 cauldron(pewter, standard size 2)_

_1 set glass or crystal phials_

_1 telescope_

_1 set brass scales_

_Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad._

_PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK_

"Where are we going to go first to get all of this stuff?" I asked her eagerly, excited to get started. Mother looked at me out of the corner of her eyes, a light smirk playing at her lips.

"Wherever you want to start, after all, these are going to be your school supplies. Which reminds me…" She pulled a bag out of her skirt pocket, and gave it to me. "Here's your money. Spend it wisely." I looked inside, there was more than enough from what I could see, but I'd still have to be careful. Didn't want to go crazy.

"Let's go get my robes and nametags first." Mother gave one curt nod, and immediately changed directions, headed for the correct store. The crowd, casting glances of fear at her, parted in order for her to have a clear path, I just simply kept close behind.

When we entered Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, there were two boys being fitted as well who I knew I'd seen before, though I couldn't place them. Madam Malkin, who I had met only once before, was dressed in mauve and recognized Mother immediately.

"Mrs. Elixir!" She cried, almost nervously, "How good to see yo-Ohh, I see why you're here. Miss Elixir's been accepted into Hogwarts, eh?" Mother gave her usual single nod, not feeling the need to speak. "Well, we got these two boys-"

"Crabbe. Goyle." Mother said shortly, and then I remembered. These two were Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, fellow Pure-Bloods. I hadn't been around them in a few years, so I chalked it up to forgetfulness and the growing the two had done. "Where are your parents?"

"Down the street getting our books from Flourish and Blotts." Crabbe started.

"They'll be back in a minute." Goyle finished. Mother nodded again, and it was only then that I remembered that Madam Malkin was still standing there. I looked up at her.

"Where would you like me to stand, Madam Malkin?" I asked politely, and she gave me a smile, before directing me to a third stool next to Goyle. Mother left the shop quietly, but she didn't escape my notice as Malkin slipped a huge robe over my head, making my abnormal pale skin stand out even more than it already was.

"Elixir, right?" Goyle asked me as the seamstress began pinning up the robe to the correct lengths. I nodded once. "Do you know Draco Malfoy? He's our best friend!" I tried very hard to not roll my eyes, and barely succeeded.

"Yes, I've known him for a long time." Why he hangs out with idiots like these two escapes me. It was quiet for another few minutes, when four adults came in. I gave them my brightest smile, seeing as it was Mr. and Mrs. Crabbe and Goyle.

"They're almost done!" Said Madam Malkin, who I'd, again, forgotten was there. The parents laughed at some joke that was shared.

"Mom!" Crabbe called, "Look who it is!" The four adults turned to look at us, and I kept smiling. "It's the Elixir's girl!"

"Hello, Demetra." Mrs. Crabbe said to me. Small talk commenced until Madam Malkin interrupted again.

"Alright, you two are done, dears." The two boys, both semi-overweight, they carefully stepped off the short stools. I was glad to see they were leaving.

"Don't forget to say goodbye to Demetra, boys." Mrs. Goyle said to them, and they turned and waved as they left.

"Bye, Demetra! See you at Hogwarts!" I gave them the same bright smile I'd given their parents, and waved politely, but quickly let it drop soon as the door swung shut. At that moment, Mother came back, sporting a new necklace that was physically identical to the one she'd sold to Mr. Burke. I quirked an eyebrow, but she held up a hand, so I kept quiet once more.

"Ah, Mrs. Elixir, back so soon?" As the words proceeded out of Malkin's mouth, her two assistants who had been working on Dumb and Dumber (though which one was more stupid than the other is difficult to say) came over to help her finish. "Just about…" she sewed up the last bit on my right sleeve, "Done!" Mother nodded once, and I hopped off the stool. Mother paid quietly, and I carried my new robes and hat out. I knew, of course, she was paying for the robes so I wouldn't ask about her necklace.

"Where to next, darling?" She asked 'sweetly' after we left the store. I checked the list.

"Um… my books?" She gave me one of her fake smiles she usually saved for when company was over, and I knew it was because we were being watched by our fellow shoppers. We were watched everywhere we went. It's a side effect of being a part of the social elite.

"To Flourish and Blotts it is."

The shelves were stacked from the floor to the ceiling with books. I had never actually had reason to be in the bookshop, so I was stunned by the sheer size of some of the books. Some were as big as the large stones that made up the pavement outside, while some didn't look to be as big as a Galleon. I had always been a very good reader, so I was thrilled to see so many books on so many different things. I picked up one called _Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying, and Much, Much More_ by Professor Vindictus Viridian. But Mother told me to put it away before dragging me up to the front of the store and requesting the complete set of books for First Year students at Hogwarts. The man behind the counter quickly provided them, and then I asked if there were any books on Hogwarts itself. He provided one called, _Hogwarts, a History_ which I also bought to read at home. I purchased my pewter cauldron, set of scales, and collapsible brass telescope while I was there as well.

After that was the Apothecary, where I got my supply of basic ingredients for potions. Mother whispered in my ear to not worry about my Potions class very much, that the teacher was an old friend of Father's and shouldn't treat me too terribly as long as I get into Slytherin.

"What's left?" Mother asked as we stood outside the Apothecary.

"Just a wand and a pet." Mother huffed.

"You are getting an owl." There was no room for argument, but she could sense the question hanging on my tongue. "Toads went out of style ages ago, and a cat will do you no good. I want you to be able to write us if anything goes wrong, and cats are not known for delivering messages. No, you will be getting an owl…" She was thinking about something. I didn't have to look at her to know, I could tell because her sentence trailed off. "In fact, here's Ollivanders. Go inside and get your wand. We'll call the owl a present from your father and I." I gave her a small smile, and nodded before heading inside the shop with the, 'Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B. C.'

The bell to tell the proprietor that a costumer had just arrived tinkled somewhere in the back of the shop. My vividly green eyes glanced at the small boxes that were stacked up disorderly on the wall-to-wall shelves, guessing that wands lay inside. The entire building seemed almost alive with it's own kind of magic. It was a bit unsettling.

"Good afternoon." Said a quiet voice, startling me. I turned to see a thin old man with large eyes that made me think of the moon.

"Hello, sir." I replied, trying my best to not appear disheveled by his sudden appearance.

"Ah, yes. Demetra Elixir." It wasn't a question. "I was wondering when I'd see you in my store. I didn't expect you so soon, yet I expected you to come sooner." His eyes narrowed slightly, and I felt naked before him, like he could see my entire dark past. "The difference between you and your parents is shocking, but I'm certain you're accustomed to it by now." He gave me a creepy smile. "I remember when your mother came in here to buy her first wand. Cedar, 11 inches long, rather bendy. Your father, however, was 13 inches. Pliable. Myrtle wood, if I remember. Good for countercurses. But, we're not here to discuss them, are we?" He pulled out a measuring tape from his pocket, "Which is your wand arm?"

"Both." I answered automatically, and he quirked an eyebrow at me. He stayed totally still for a moment, before going to his desk, getting a piece of parchment and a quill.

"Write something with each hand." He ordered, and I took the quill from him while picking up another I saw laying on the desk. I dipped them both into the ink, and quickly wrote out 'My name is Demetra Elixir' onto the page, writing with both hands at the same time. His jaw was slack when I turned back around to look at him. However, he recovered, and grinned widely in his creepy way. "I know _just_ the wand for you." He retreated into the depths of his store before emerging some minutes later. He opened the box in his hands, but never once touched the wand inside. "Go ahead, take it." I pulled out the wand, and felt a tingling sensation go up my fingers, through my arm, into my shoulder, and warming my chest before settling down inside my heart. I never noticed how dark it got in the room before going bright again. "Excellent." Was all I heard. "Black walnut, core of Pegasus hair. 10 and 1/2 inches long and reasonably springy. This will fit you just fine. It'll be very good for hexes and curses, I might add." I studied the dark colors and ornate carvings before quickly paying him seven Galleons and leaving his store.

"This is an excellent wand." Mother said as she waved it about a little, meeting me outside Ollivanders. I held Orion's, my new Great Gray Owl, cage as she studied it. "Your father will be pleased." And without saying another word to me, she gave me back my wand, and we apparated back home.


	2. Dinner

Two months after my letter of acceptance to Hogwarts arrived, I was sitting at the dining room table in my very nicest dress, with a grumpy old man I didn't know on my left, and Draco Malfoy on my right. I could feel the flickering, nervous glances being cast at me, as though I might explode at any moment and kill everyone in the room. It was a feeling I was quite accustomed to. It was the dinner party, and as expected, Draco and I were keeping utterly silent.

I felt as though I'd known Draco my entire life, but I wasn't introduced to him until I was around 6. Before then, we had simply seen each other in passing. But after, when both our families were invited to a dinner party or some such, we were expected to attend as well. However, being children, we were also expected to only speak when spoke to (called "behaving"), so even though we sat next to each other once a month for five years, I barely knew him. The only things I knew were that he has blue-gray eyes, almost-white blonde hair, and is a very cute Malfoy. Unbeknownst to me, though, I was about to learn a lot more about my blonde friend.

"So, Demetra, is it?" My head shot up at my name, and I looked down towards the head of the table at Mrs. Malfoy. I nodded quietly, noticing how the rest of the able had also gone silent. I had never actually been addressed before at one of these parties, and I could hear the sharp intakes of breath when Mrs. Malfoy had said my name, as though she had said 'Voldemort'. "Which House at Hogwarts do you hope to get into?" I could feel all the eyes, including Draco's, resting on me. I put down my spoon as I had been taught.

"Either Ravenclaw or Slytherin." A couple of quiet gasps, and low whispers could be heard. I tried very hard to ignore it.

"You don't know?" Again, my head snapped around at a Malfoy's voice, but this time, it was Draco. I was a bit surprised, it was the first time I'd ever heard him say anything other than, "Pass the salt, please" or "Thank you for inviting me, I had a love time" in five years.

"I suppose you do?" I retorted, covering up my momentary shock. He got a bit of a bored expression. The whispering increased.

"Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been." The response that leaped to my tongue was, "With your arrogance, it'd be the only place that would accept you", but I held it in for when fewer ears were listening. Instead, I came up with something sarcastic.

"Oh yes, how very interesting, Draco. Tell me, do you know your entire family history, or do you have a life?" The old man next to me seemed to have a sudden coughing fit, along with several other patrons, and I smirked at the young Malfoy's expression. I half-expected his parents to be outraged at my comment, but Mrs. Malfoy simply looked at Mother with a smile.

"She's inherited your wit." Mother smiled a little.

"Yes, but none of her father's control." Uh-oh. I'm so grounded. Draco must have realized this at the same time I did, because he gave me a smirk (anyone else notice how much the social elite smirk at each other?) at the same time mine fell off my face. "Demetra, dearest," Mother started again, and I looked over at her, "If you two are finished, why don't you take Draco up to your room and show him Orion?" As she finished her sentence, Draco leaned forward.

"May I go, Father?" Mr. Malfoy simply waved a couple of his fingers, and the two of us quickly pushed out our chairs and went upstairs to my room.

My room was a decent size, with a full sized bed in the direct center of the wall next to us. The room was painted a deep green with Elvish paintings in silver dancing along the walls. Everything in my room was decorated dark green and silver to match the Slytherin house colors, except for the wood, which was black. My bed had four wooden posts around it that had dark green (with silver lining) curtains, with snakes carved so that they wrapped up the posts and sat in a threatening position at the top. My black desk was against the left wall, my closet made up the entire right wall, and the fireplace was up against the far wall placed between two French double doors (green frames with silver windows) that went out to a balcony. One black leather couch and two angled high-backed leather chairs faced the fireplace as seating. A huge painting of my family from a month ago was hung above the fireplace. I kept Orion's cage hung up on a wrought iron post by one of the dual doors… and the cage door was open, along with the closest outside door.

"So, where is this bird of yours?" I smacked my forehead.

"I told the house elves to let him out during dinner so he could get some exercise." He looked a bit unsure for a minute.

"Should we go back downstairs, then?" I deadpanned.

"You really wanna go back down there?" He rolled his eyes.

"No." I flopped back onto my bed.

"Then what do you want to do?" I asked as I heard him sit down in one of my chairs. He was quiet for a minute.

"Got a set of wizard chess?"

We spent the next hour playing three games of wizard chess on my bed. I won the first, he won the second, and the third ended in a stalemate when we both ended up with just our kings left. I would never, ever tell him, but I actually let him win the second one and then let him take all my pieces except my king so he wouldn't be upset about losing. After that, I showed him my robes, which is when I explained how I'd met Crabbe and Goyle, who he was more than happy to join me in complaining about their inherent lack of intelligence. He also told me that the only reason he befriended them is because he knows he's not physically very strong, where as those two can lift a bit more than their own weight. I couldn't argue his logic.

Orion returned then with a dead rat in his beak to show me. I tried to look happy, but it still grossed me out. Malfoy nearly threw up, which made me laugh. I showed him how to give Orion treats, and he thought that was kind of cool.

He asked me about school, so I showed him all the stuff Mother and I had gone and bought a few weeks ago. He marveled at my wand, said he couldn't wait to get one himself, and I made him promise to show me it when we got on the Hogwarts Express. He agreed. He thought _Hogwarts, a History_ looked interesting, so I let him borrow it, saying I'd actually already read it through twice. We talked about our professors, and he told me all about Professor Snape, who he'd already met. He told me not to be intimidated by him, because then he would be able to control me. He said to show him his proper respect, but not to get in his way, and everything should be easy. I told him that I'd actually already read the book that was listed for (what I assumed to be) Potions class (a reasonable assumption, since it's called _Magical Drafts and Potions_), so I was looking forward to it. He gave me a weird look then, and then asked if I'd already read all the books for school this year, and, blushing furiously, I nodded. He laughed, and I told him it was only because I didn't have a lot to do around the house, and I didn't have very many friends.

"Well," he started slowly, a light pink tint coming in around the tops of his cheeks, "Now you got me." I could tell he wasn't used to saying stuff like that, based on the way he couldn't seem to look in any one place, let alone at me, for any period of time. I smiled, and opened my mouth to respond.

"Master Draco, sir?" Came a hesitant voice, and we both looked at one of our house elves, Logan.

"Yes, what is it?" Draco replied impatiently, trying to mask his embarrassment from a moment ago. Logan flinched at the cold tone.

"Master wanted Logan to inform Master Draco that Master's Malfoy and Mrs. Malfoy are leaving, sir, and that they would like him to come downstairs, sir." Draco stood up quick as a flash, and looked at me with a strange expression.

"How long have we been up here?" I looked at my watch.

"About three hours." His eyes widened.

"Wow, we've been talking all this time? Time never flies this quickly at Goyle's house!" He laughed, "But then again, the only thing that flies at Goyle's house is food… straight into his mouth!" I laughed at this too, and then we walked downstairs, chatting away happily. I didn't miss the knowing look our mother's shared as we reached the bottom.

As I glanced around the entryway, I realized that the Malfoy's were the only family left. Everyone else had already gone home for the evening. I tried to not be embarrassed (at least, not in front of Draco for the third time in one night), since as the hostess, I should have been polite and said goodbye to all of my guests, but I was too busy talking to Draco… Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind. I glanced in a mirror to see my face a bit flushed, then at Draco's, and noticed that he still had the tinge of pink on his cheeks, along with his hair a bit messed up from him running his hands through it so many times while we were playing wizard's chess… Now I understand why Father looks ready to strangle Draco. The moment the door shut behind Mrs. Malfoy, Father turned angrily on me.

"What were you two doing up there for three hours? And why do you two look all flushed!" There was a moment where I was unable to find my voice, and Mother gave Father a look. He took a deep breath. "Did he… touch you?" The end half of the sentence was almost growled out. I shook my head.

"We played Wizard's Chess, Father!"

"For three hours?" I shook my head quickly.

"No, no! Just for an hour, because Orion had gone out to get some exercise, and after that he came back, so we fed him. Then we talked about school, and books, and our professors, and that's all!" He glared.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"I swear it, Father! He never once touched me!" I replied, fighting off tears, wondering why he was so insistent on this. I'd had boys in my room for a few hours before, but he had never jumped to conclusions like this before. Mother stood silently behind me, her hands on my shoulders. He watched me for another minute.

"… Go to bed." I didn't even say goodnight. I broke from Mother's grasp and ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time, tears starting on my cheeks.

I slammed my bedroom door shut as I ran to my bed. I flung myself onto the monstrous comfort, sobbing silently; praying to the ghost of Merlin Father wouldn't discover me like this. He's never struck me before, but that doesn't mean he hasn't gotten close. He swung at me a year ago when he was really mad, but I moved at the last second. He flung himself so hard, and was already so drunk that he went off-balance, fell down, and hit his head on the coffee table, knocking himself out. He forgot about it when he woke up.

I never forgot.

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><p><strong>Review please! =D<strong>


	3. Journey from Platform 9 & ThreeQuarters

(Actual title: The Journey from Platform Nine and Three Quarters, not the silliness you see in the top right hand corner of your screen. -_-)

Today was the day. The day I was leaving behind the Elixir family mansion for Hogwarts castle. I woke up at approximately 5:30am to start getting ready. My personal elf, Ivy, who always helped me get dressed in the morning, was awake before I was, since I'd told her the day before to be sure to be up extra early. She was rubbing the sleep from her eyes when she appeared in my bedroom after I'd gotten out of the shower.

"Why has we gots to be up so early, Dem?" Ivy asked me as she hopped up onto the edge of my desk/vanity (desk by necessity, vanity by want). I had told her years ago to not be as formal with me as she was with my parents, it made me feel old. She started on the strings of my corset as I sat on the edge, and gripped the table top firmly.

"Because I want to be ready to go as soon as possible. I'm ready, Ivy, really I am. I'm ready for Hogwarts and whatever challenges it has to throw my way." She gave me a skeptical look.

"Is Dem ready because Dem is ready for Hogwarts, or is Dem ready because Dem is ready to be away from Master?" I looked away, grunting as she tightened the strings. I didn't answer her question.

After she got done with the corset (it wasn't really much of a corset, since I had just started puberty the year before, but still), she helped me put on my dress that I would wear to the train (deep green with black accents), and then got started on my hair. She brushed all the knots out so that my mid-riff length hair was sleek and smooth. With a wave of her finger, it was instantly dry, and she pulled it up into a loose bun that let a few strands of hair hang down in my face. It was around 7am, then, and Mother came in, already dressed. She had probably gotten up at the same time I did, but also had 3 house elves to help her, whereas I only had one. She didn't say a word as she started on my makeup, doing a natural look that accented my vibrant green eyes. I stood as Ivy quickly fetched my black pumps, and then slid them on my feet. Mother summoned a mirror, and the two of us stood in front of it with Ivy watching quietly from the edge of my desk.

The difference between us was painful to look at. My black and green dress made my snow-white skin stick out even more than usual, while her light tan looked radiant, healthy, and normal in her slimming black dress. Her brown eyes were staring into my green ones. Her brown hair framed her face, falling in ringlets, while my silky, straight black hair covered half of my face. Her pointed features made my rounded ones look like a baby.

"Both Miss Demetra and Mrs. Elixir look very, very beautiful." Ivy complimented softly. Mother gripped my shoulders a bit tighter with a very slight smile. I gave her my very best smile, but she turned away.

"Be downstairs in time for breakfast. We're leaving for Kingscross Station immediately after." I looked at the clock that hung on my wall by my desk. 7:15am. I had 15 minutes to pack up my things. Breakfast, in the Elixir mansion, is served at 7:30am exactly every morning. One of the few constants in my life. Ivy also realized the time.

"Dem's not got very much time! Ivy will help Dem pack!" She quickly exclaimed, and I looked at her with a serious expression, immediately taking charge.

"Get the books and my wand in the trunk, and then put my robes in the suitcase. I'll get the rest." Ivy nodded, and started collecting the books. Most of them were on my desk, except for _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_, which I had just finished reading for the second time the night before, and was on my bedside. They were almost all about as big as Ivy, so she had to take them one at a time.

I grabbed my pewter cauldron, set glass, and telescope, putting them into the trunk neatly but hastily. I got Orion's cage (where he was still sleeping) from off the hanger and set it by my door. I scanned my room for my brass scale and potions ingredients before spotting them on my desk. I scooped them up, wrapped them tightly in some shirts that I had laid out the night before specifically for this purpose, and put them in the trunk. Ivy had just finished putting the books away and was reaching for my wand when I reached over her and grabbed it instead.

"Get the list of stuff I need, I'm just going to carry this on me." I told her, slipping the wand into my pocket. She nodded, turned around, grabbed the list off my bedside table, and starting reading off the stuff on it. I stood by the suitcase that lay open, full of clothes on my bed.

"Work robes?"

"Check."

"Pointed hat, black?"

"Check."

"Work gloves, preferably dragon hide?" I scanned the room again, and spotting them on my desk, held them up for her to see.

"Check." I tossed them into the suitcase as Ivy went to read off the next item.

"Winter cloak?" I grabbed it from where it hung up on one of my bedposts and threw it in alongside the gloves.

"Check." She read off all the titles of the course books, which I checked then double checked were inside the trunk. I smiled when I spotted _Hogwarts, a History_ in the trunk, too. Apparently, Ivy remembered when I had laughed about finding that still in my room the morning after the dinner party last week. Draco forgot it, having been in such a hurry to leave.

"Wand and cauldron?"

"Check."

"Set glass and telescope?"

"Check, check."

"Brass scales and Orion?"

"Check." She read off the list of basic potion ingredients which I had added after Mother had bought them for me, and we checked them all off. Smiling broadly, I closed and locked the trunk, and allowed Ivy to start dragging it downstairs with warnings to be careful. I didn't want the scales to be off-balance when I got to school, and I didn't know how breakable those or anything else in that trunk was. I carried Orion and the suitcase down, however, since I could actually hold up the cage properly while walking down the stairs. I dropped them off by the front door, and quickly went to my seat at the dining room table where I was expected. I glanced up at the clock on the wall as I sat down at the ornately carved table. 7:28am. Two minutes to spare. I let loose a small breath of relief, and sat perfectly straight, awaiting my eggs and biscuits to arrive.

Breakfast went completely silent. We ate, but did not speak. There was nothing to be said, especially not about last night. I glanced up and was startled to see Father sitting at the head of the table between Mother and me. My white skin made his pale-complexion look like a Spaniard, I realized bitterly. His light brown, wavy hair was neatly combed. His brown eyes stared at his food, not acknowledging my presence. It didn't need to be said, then, that he would not be accompanying me to the Hogwarts Express. Mother and I would be going alone. I was fine with that.

At exactly 10:40am, I was standing on Platform 9 ¾ with Mother standing next to me, and _Hogwarts, a History_ under my arm. I was pushing my cart along, my eyes wide at the sight of the Hogwarts Express. It was just so… _big._ And there were so many people just milling about, looking for whatever needed to be found. I had never really been around this many people at once before. It was exhilarating.

"I'll get that for ya, miss!" One of the car attendants called as I tried to figure out where to put my entire luggage. It only took him a few minutes to get everything onboard. Mother gave me a quick hug. The most affection she'd shown me in a long time.

"Be careful." I almost cried then and there. In those two words was all the love and affection she'd held out on me for so long. I could see it in her eyes. She was distant, but I was still her daughter and she my mother. I put the book down and hugged her again.

"I will be." I choked out.

"And I don't care what your father says, it doesn't matter what House you get in to. I'm still so very proud of you." She whispered in my ear. I nodded, and we pulled away from each other, dabbing at the corners of our eyes. "I'll see you at Christmas." I smiled, and nodded again. Giving me one final, curt nod, she turned around and left, headed back home.

"Ready to go, miss?" Asked the car attendant behind me as I watched her leave. I picked up the book, turned around, and gave him a brave face.

"Yes." I said shortly, resuming the superior-Elixir mask that had been so well molded over the years of my life. He took my hand and helped me on board, and I started down the long middle hall, looking through the compartments for anyone I recognized.

"Hey! Elixir!" Shouted a voice, and glancing over my shoulder, I saw Draco Malfoy dressed in a black and green (ironically enough, matching my dress) suit and a smirk on his face. "You wanna sit with us?" I nodded, and strolled down to meet him.

"You left this at my house." I said, handing him the book. He looked at it, surprised.

"_Hogwarts, a History_?... Oh yeah! Thanks for bringing it." He gave me a quick smile, and then opened a compartment door. "Ladies first." I smirked at him as I passed.

"Whoever said I was a lady?" He returned my smirk, followed me into the small compartment, and sat down right next to me. I looked at him. "Are we expecting company, dear?" I asked a bit mockingly. He chuckled and nodded.

"Crabbe and Goyle should be here any minute…" He thought for just a second, and then drawled out, "honey." I laughed, feeling the start of a new tradition. We continued on like this for a few more minutes, pretending we were some sort of old, married couple, when Crabbe came in. His eyes opened wide at the two of us, before he turned back to the hall.

"Goyle! He's in here! And so's Demetra!" The taller brute walked up a minute later, and the two sat across from us as the train started moving. It was quiet for a minute.

"So," I started, "Crabbe, how was your summer?" I asked politely, tired of the silence.

Draco, uninterested, opened _Hogwarts, a History_ up and started reading. Crabbe told me all about… something or another. I honestly didn't even care, I just smiled, nodded, and 'mhm'ed at the right times. I couldn't stop myself from glancing at Draco every few seconds, wondering what he thought of the book. He, thankfully, didn't notice me. At some point, Goyle jumped in the explanation, since they'd apparently spent the last week or two at one of their houses, though I wasn't paying attention when they'd explained that part, so I honestly have no idea. Then they started talking to each other about something, leaving me alone. When I saw that Draco was at the end of the second chapter, I nudged him. He held up one finger, asking me to wait, and then after a minute, he shut the book and looked at me.

"Yes?"

"Please tell me you had a more interesting week than these two." I said, and he laughed.

"Not really, just stayed home and practiced a couple of spells out of the Magic Theory book." He told me about how he'd managed to get a feather to lift a couple of inches off the ground once his father told him how to properly enunciate the spell. I asked him to show me, and he retrieved a quill from one of his pockets. "Wingardium leviosa." Just as he said, the quill lifted just a couple of inches off the seat, before he put it back down again. "Simple, really." He caught my eye, and we sat there, just staring at each other for a second. "Darling." He drawled out with a smile, and the two of us fell backwards, laughing so hard. The two morons across from us looked at us like we'd lost it, but we ignored them. Suddenly, the compartment door opened.

"Have any of you seen a toad?" Asked a girl with two large front teeth, very wavy brown hair, and a bossy tone. "A boy on the train says he's lost his." We all shook our heads. She spotted Draco's wand out. "Are you doing magic?"

"None of your business." He said with venom, and she was taken aback a bit.

"Sorry." She replied, although we could tell she wasn't really sorry, and let the door shut as she left. A few minutes later, some short blonde kid came in.

"Have you heard? Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived is here! On the train! He's going to Hogwarts with us!" He left as we shot each other surprised looks. Draco got a dastardly smile.

"Let's go have a look, then. See if it's true." I returned his smile, and the four of us got up to search the train. It didn't take us very long; he was just a couple of compartments down from us.

"Is it true?" Draco asked as we entered. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"

"Yes," replied the dark haired one. He was looking at Crabbe, Goyle and I, more so the other two. They're probably the biggest boys he's ever seen, and it doesn't help that they're flanking Malfoy and I like they're our bodyguards.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," Draco told him carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking. "This is Demetra Elixir, and my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." The red-haired Weasley gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Draco looked at him. "Think our names are funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford." He turned back to Harry. "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there." He held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it.

"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks." He said coolly, and I felt a surprised smile crossing my face. This kid was brave, and knew what he wanted. We weren't it. Malfoy didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks.

"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you." Both Harry and the red-haired boy stood up.

"Say that again," Weasley said, his face as red as his hair.

"Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy sneered. I put a hand on his chest to stop him from going forward.

"Unless you get out now," said Harry, more bravely than he probably should have, because Crabbe and Goyle were a lot bigger than him or Weasley.

"But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys. We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some." Goyle reached toward the Chocolate Frogs next to the Weasley, but I slapped his hand away before turning back to Draco.

"There are times and places for such things, Draco." I said low and seriously, "This is neither." I glanced over his shoulder out the hallway, "Save it for when fewer ears are listening and fewer eyes can see." We stared into each other's eyes for a minute, a silent challenge being issued and accepted.

"Let's go, boys." He said finally, and the three of them turned and left. I stayed behind one second longer, watching Harry and the red-haired boy.

"Thanks." Harry said softly, and I ignored it.

"What's your name?" I asked the Weasley, and he glanced at Harry before looking at me.

"Ron. Ron Weasley." I looked back over at Harry.

"I didn't do it for you. I did it for him." I jerked my head in the direction that Malfoy had just left in before letting the door shut and following my friend and two bodyguards back to our compartment. The rest of the way consisted of Draco reading _Hogwarts, a History_ and Crabbe and Goyle eating or talking to each other in low tones. I changed robes in the bathroom while the boys changed in our compartment, and then I stared out the window, waiting to get to school.

A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

"Time to go." Draco said, shutting the book and putting it with his extra luggage he'd brought on board. Crabbe and Goyle shoved their extra treats into their pockets.

The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. I stood next to Harry Potter, who shivered in the cold night air. I put on a brave face, refusing to show how cold I was. A lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and we heard a deep, booming voice.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry." A big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads, looking at Potter next to me. "C'mon, follow me - any more firs' years. Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!" I leaned in close to Harry.

"Know him?"

"Hagrid. Gamekeeper at the school." He stuttered out, the cold causing his teeth to clatter. I nodded, and then, slipping and stumbling, we followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that I wondered if there were trees here. Nobody spoke much after I asked Harry about Hagrid. Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffed once or twice. "Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud "Oooooh!" The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black take. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. I jumped into a boat, and was quickly followed by Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. "Everyone in." shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then - FORWARD!" And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over us as we sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood. "Heads down!" Yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; we all bent our heads and the little boats carried us through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. We were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until we reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles. "Oi, you there! Is this your toad?" Asked Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.

"Trevor!" Neville cried blissfully, holding out his hands. We then clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. We walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.

"Everyone here. You there, still got yer toad?" Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.


	4. The Sorting Hat

The door immediately swung open wide, and a tall older woman in emerald robes stood there. Her stern face was probably to strike fear into the hearts of mortal men, but I just raised one black eyebrow.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall." Hagrid told her.

"Thank you, Hagrid, I will take them from here." She led us inside to a monstrous entrance hall. The walls were lined with lit flaming torches, and the people in the pictures looked down at us with curiosity. A door to the right held back the sound of a hundred voices, where I assumed the rest of the school was awaiting us. The Professor, however, led us into a smaller chamber where we were all packed a little bit too closely. "Welcome to Hogwarts." She said, standing before us. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses." She went on to explain about the Houses and winning points, but Mother had already told me all this last night before I went to bed. "I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting, I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly." She finished before swiftly leaving the chamber. Crabbe nudged Draco and I.

"How are we gonna be sorted, d'ya think?" He asked, and I shot Malfoy a conspirator's look.

"It's a test." I told him wickedly, lying through my teeth. "You have to defeat a troll in front of the whole school. Do poorly, they'll put you in Hufflepuff, where all the ninnies go. Do too well, they'll put you in Ravenclaw, because you're an obnoxious know-it-all. Somewhere in the middle, they'll put you in Slytherin or Gryffindor, depending on how you went about it." Draco choked back a laugh, covering his smile with his hand. Crabbe's eyes widened lots.

"B-but, I don't know any magic yet!" Goyle smacked him.

"Mum told me they put a hat on your head and it figures out where you should go." He told me smartly, and Draco raised an eyebrow at me, wondering how I was going to work my way out of that one. We both knew it was the truth, but now that I'd told this big, horrible story, how was I to get out of it? I shrugged my shoulders innocently.

"Mother told me that they go back and forth, year to year. It could be the hat this year, or it could be the troll. Who knows?" I asked in a creepy voice before turning around. Draco, again, hid a smile behind his hand, his shoulders rolling slightly.

Suddenly, several people around us screamed. I turned around and drew my wand in one swift motion, ready to take on whatever had frightened my fellows, when I spotted what it was. I rolled my eyes, finding the Muggle-born's around me to be incredibly stupid. 20 or so completely harmless ghosts had just floated into the room, and seemed to be arguing about something. The fat one was speaking as they hovered overhead.

"Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance -"

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves. He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost - I say, what are you all doing here." A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed us. Nobody answered.

"New students!" Said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose." A few people nodded mutely, and I rolled my eyes again. "Hope to see you in Hufflepuff! My old house, you know."

"Move along now," said a sharp voice suddenly, "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start." Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall. I waved at the one that was covered in blood. "Now, form a line and follow me." She told us, and I stood behind Crabbe and in front of Draco. We walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through the pair of double doors that led into the Great Hall.

It was _exactly_ like I imagined it being.

Lit by thousands of candles that were suspended in mid-air by magic, they hung very high over four very long tables. The tables were all full of students already, and I dimly wondered where there would be room for the rest of us. Golden, glittering goblets and plates set the long tables, and we were led quietly between them. I overheard a girl telling someone about the enchanted ceiling, and I glanced up at it. It was better than I had imagined, the sky overhead was beautiful. At the other end of the hall was a fifth long table, this one going across the room instead of down it, and I recognized Professor Dumbledore from my Hogwarts book. I guessed that's where all the teachers sat, since they all looked far too old to be students.

Professor McGonagall led us up here so that we faced the students with the teachers behind us. She fetched a stool and hat, and placed them before us. The hat was patched, frayed, and very dirty. I vaguely wondered if anyone had tried cleaning it, or if it just came that way. There was a couple of seconds of total silence. The hat twitched, and then the brim opened up like a mouth, and it began to sing.

_Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find_

_A smarter hat than me."_ I turned around to look at Draco, and the two of us smiled.

_"You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,"_ Draco snorted behind me, _"Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, if you've a ready mind,"_ I felt him nudge me from behind, and chancing a quick glance back at him, he gave me a big smile. He remembered that that's where I hoped to go. _"Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin"_ I shot him a sneaky glance, and he gave me a smirk in return, _"You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folk use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap! You're in safe hands (though I have none) For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_ The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again. Crabbe turned and glared at me, and I just shrugged my shoulders in response.

"When I call your name," Professor McGonagall said, and I turned my attention quickly to her, "you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." A pause, "Abbott, Hannah!" My eyes widened. They're not going in the order we're standing in, they're going based on the list in McGonagall's hands! I'll be one of the first one's up!

"HUFFLEPUFF!" One of the tables cheered.

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Boot, Terry!" I swallowed, and forced myself to relax. This was the hour my fate would be decided. I was excited yet strangely nervous at the same time. It was making my nerves feel frayed.

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Brocklehurst, Mandy!" Went to Ravenclaw as well, but Lavender Brown became the first new Gryffindor.

"Bulstrode, Millicent!" Was crowed a Slytherin, and I had just managed to get myself to relax, thinking my name started with an 'e' and she was still on 'b'. It'd be a while, right? "Elixir, Demetra!" I glanced back at Draco, who gave me his trademark smirk.

"Moment of truth." He said to me quietly, and I took a deep breath before he pushed me forward from behind. "You'll be fine, go on." He whispered.

I stepped forward, and I spotted Harry Potter out of the corner of my eye, watching me as I walked up. I cast my eyes over the student body, spotting various Weasleys and other magical families I knew. Marcus Flint gave me a bright smile, which I half-heartedly returned. I looked the other way, and saw Dumbledore watching me with a curious twinkle in his eye. I saw a man dressed in all black with greasy black hair staring at me, recognizing me, though I didn't know him. He held my gaze for a long moment as I proceeded forward, and then finally deciding something within himself, broke it off. It felt like eternity, but it was actually only about two strides. I looked up in time to see that I was almost to the stool, and quickly hopped up onto it. The Sorting Hat was immediately placed on my head, and a voice trickled into my mind.

"_Hmm… Very interesting. Very sneaky, but I see some courage in here, too. Determination and an insatiable desire for knowledge, with a deep desire to prove yourself. So, where to put you, hmm…_" I felt emotions passing through me, memories flashing before my eyes. "_Talent, yes, plenty of that, too._" A memory of me trying out a potion from my potions book had just come and gone. It worked out better than I had hoped. _"You would do well in Gryffindor." _I suddenly realized how tight my hands were gripping the stool, and I tried to lax my hold.

"_Not Gryffindor, not Gryffindor…_" I thought to myself, willing it to be true. Fear of Father's wrath caused the blood to pump hotly in my ears.

"_Not Gryffindor?_" It asked, _"Are you sure? You could go far, they would see to that. Well, if not Gryffindor, then it had better be _SLYTHERIN!" The last word was shouted out to the entire hall, and in a daze, I staggered off the seat. The table on my far right had exploded into cheers. The black-haired man was applauding lightly. Draco was clapping, too, with a knowing smirk. I tried to give him a smile and a shrug in return like nothing was wrong, but the shock from having almost been placed in Gryffindor hadn't worn off yet.

I looked out at all the tables. Gryffindors, being polite, were applauding, but their faces held tight smiles. Hufflepuff clapped encouragingly, giving me big grins. Ravenclaw was observing me critically in a way that made me both self conscious and long to be there with them.

I was partially pleased to have been sorted into the House that introduced my parents (although he had been a year older), but I believed that being in Ravenclaw would be the best. I had a thirst for knowledge I thought for sure would be enough to get me in that House. Mother knew it was what I wanted, that's why she said all that stuff at the train station. She didn't want me to feel bad if I got into Ravenclaw. But I knew that her grace didn't extend into Gryffindor. Hufflepuff didn't matter, because we all knew there was no way I was going to be sorted there. But back when Mother and Father went to school here, James Potter and his friends bullied them, and they've hated all Gryffindors ever since. For me to have gone there would have been a disgrace to the family name.

I sat down between Crabbe and Marcus Flint, who clapped me on the shoulder and said he was glad I had joined the ranks of the House of Slytherin. Crabbe turned and looked at me.

"What took you two so long?"

"Oh, it wanted to put me in Ravenclaw, but I convinced it otherwise." I lied, puffing out my chest and acting like it was so cool of me to do that. They bought it, and I tried to not show my relief. I didn't watch the rest of the Sorting until…

"Malfoy, Draco!" I heard someone a few tables down from me moan something about another Malfoy, and I just smiled, holding back a laugh. Draco swaggered across the stage like he owned the place, making me roll my eyes. His wish, of course, was granted when the hat barely touched his head before screeching out.

"SLYTHERIN!" He quickly joined us, sitting between Crabbe and me, looking very pleased with himself.

"Didn't quite get your wish then, did you?" He asked me. I rolled my eyes.

"Well, at least one of us did." I said before shrugging, and he smiled.

"I'm glad we got into a House together. It would have been dreadful to have been left alone with just Goyle and Crabbe all the time." I blushed and looked away, my long, straight black hair covering the tint in my cheeks.

I caught a glimpse of myself in the reflection of my golden plate. My almond-shaped green eyes shone right back at me, the color of the leaves of an oak tree. My thick black eyebrows were furrowed in worry. My white-as-paper face was smooth, but I knew that it wouldn't stay this way, acne being right around the corner. My side-parted, straight, silky black hair blocked half my face, hanging down onto the plate. I stared at my reflection, wondering… Where was the Gryffindor? I didn't see her. She wasn't staring back at me now. Or, if she was, I didn't recognize her. My eyes searched painstakingly, not letting one tiny detail escape my notice, contemplating my whole being, wondering where that Gryffindor that the Sorting Hat found was now. She wasn't in that gold plate.

"Welcome," said a firm but old voice, snapping my attention up to the front of the room again. Dumbledore had stood and was addressing the student body. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered, but I looked at Flint next to me.

"Is he-?"

"Yes." Accepting that for an answer, I started applauding too. "Would you pass the roast beef, Draco?" He asked, and I turned back to see the table filled to the brim with food.

My eyes became as wide as the plates, and I looked at my blonde friend to see the same look on his face as mine. I had never seen so much food in one place at one time. Roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs. A ghost appeared as I filled up my plate, and sat on the other side of Draco. Wearing a silver outfit with blood all down one side, he seemed to simply stare vacantly into space.

"Don't mind him too much," Flint whispered to me, "He's the Bloody Baron, our House ghost. Tries very hard to intimidate the first years. Show him you're not scared, and he'll leave you alone." I nodded, and the proceeded to ignore his presence.

"How many times has Slytherin won the House Cup?" I asked Flint, who grinned at me toothily.

"The last six years in a row."

When everyone had had their fill, the food disappeared off the plates, leaving them sparkling again. I thought maybe we'd go to our dorms now, and was preparing to stand when Flint grabbed my shoulder and told me to wait for it. Suddenly, the desserts appeared. Ice cream in every flavor you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs, jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O, rice pudding, and that was just what was within arm's reach of me. As I started digging into my chocolate éclairs (being the chocoholic I was), talk turned to our families. Of course, Draco was more than pleased to talk about his family, but I kept mostly quiet. No one needed to know what my parents were like. Especially since Malfoy knew them and was more than happy to answer any questions for me.

When the desserts disappeared, Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again, and the whole Hall went silent.

"Ahern – just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." I followed Dumbledore's twinkling eyes to the direction of the Weasley twins, and grinned. "I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors." Draco snorted beside me, but I didn't respond, "Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch." A pause, "And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death." Draco and I laughed a bit, thinking he was kidding, but we were one of the only few who did. I tapped Flint.

"Is he being serious?" My friend had a strangely serious expression, and he leaned over to a sixth year beside him and whispered something. The boy whispered something back, and then Flint turned to me.

"I guess so, but the prefects weren't informed of this development. No one knows what's going on." Strange. Very strange.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. I noticed with a smirk that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed. Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words. "Everyone pick their favorite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!"

And the school bellowed: _"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts, Teach us something please, Whether we be old and bald Or young with scabby knees, Our heads could do with filling With some interesting stuff, For now they're bare and full of air, Dead flies and bits of fluff, So teach us things worth knowing, Bring back what we've forgot, just do your best, we'll do the rest, And learn until our brains all rot."_

Everybody finished the song at different times. I finished second to last with a creepy, mournful ballad that impressed Flint. Only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.

"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

"This way, Slytherins!" Cried the boy who Marcus had talked to a minute ago. He led us back into the entrance hall, down a flight of stairs, around a few hallways until stopping in front of a stretch of bare, damp wall. "Salazar!" He declared, and a stone door concealed in the wall slid open. "Welcome to the Slytherin Common room." He told us.

The room was a low-ceilinged dungeon. No light entered from above as far as I could tell, suspended green lamps, instead, were our source of light, giving everything a green tinge. Black and dark green low-backed sofas with buttons, skulls, and dark wood cupboards were scattered throughout the room, giving the room a grand yet cold atmosphere.

"Remind you of home?" Draco whispered in my ear with a smirk which I returned.

"The password changes every fortnight. The change will be posted on the notice board." The prefect told us. "Girls dorms on your right, boys on your left." He said, indicating to the large dark oak doors on either side of the room. Crabbe, Goyle, and Malfoy said goodnight to me quickly, all of us too exhausted for anything drawn out, and we separated.

No windows, just Slytherin banners tacked up onto the walls. I found my luggage, and began to change into my pajamas, when I heard giggles.

"I wonder if they're dating?" Said a girl I didn't know.

"Dating? Why would a Malfoy date that ugly thing?" This made me stop and really try to listen while feigning ignorance. I realized that was the voice of Pansy Parkinson.

"Don't say that, she's had lots of bad things happen to her."

"Like what?" Pansy sneered.

"Have you ever seen her parents? They look nothing alike. They have tans, brown hair, brown eyes. Look at her! Snow white skin, creepily green eyes…"

"So?"

"I heard a rumor that You-Know-Who knew her parents when her mom got knocked up. Heard that he grabbed her stomach and performed a spell that killed her twin, but made her look like that."

"That's insane." Said a third voice that I didn't know. I could feel tears coming to my eyes, and I started hurrying to change.

"I know, but look at her." I could feel eyes boring into my bare back as I pulled my nightgown over my head. "How else do you explain it?"

"Simple. She doesn't get out much and dyes her hair." Pansy again. Hot, angry, embarrassed tears slid down my cheeks.

"Maybe. But maybe I'm right. Just don't say anything to her about it, okay? I heard she gets really angry. Does stuff to people. Or worse, tells her father about it, and then _he_ does stuff to people." I threw myself into my bed, and closed the curtain, not wanting to hear anymore or for anyone to catch me crying. I could still hear their voices, although I didn't want to.

"Fine, whatever. She'd better just stay out of my way, Malfoy's mine." Pansy sneered out again, and I stifled a hiccup. They bid each other goodnight, and I cried myself to sleep.

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><p><strong>Hm. Not sure why this is the longest chapter, but whatever. (By the way, I've already written this out to the end of Sorcerer's Stone, so there's a guaranteed update for the next few days, haha)<strong>

**hoove-print-on-your-heart - Yeah, I normally don't, either. They're normally not very good. But thanks for reviewing! =D**

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	5. The Potions Master

**Snape might seem a bit OOC in this chapter, but trust me, before the end, it'll all make sense.**

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><p>Of course I heard the whisperings through the corridors about Harry Potter the next morning. Everyone wanted to catch a glimpse of him, to see the scar and such and such. Having already seen it myself on the train, I didn't care so much. I couldn't get last night's words out of my head, they just kept bouncing around in there as I tried to focus on finding my classes, which wasn't easy.<p>

There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending. It was also very hard to remember where anything was, because it all seemed to move around a lot.

The ghosts weren't the best help, either, since they kept appearing through doors just as you were trying to open one, scaring the wits out of you. Peeves, of course, was the worst. He pelted me with chalk until The Bloody Baron showed up and scared him off. He wasn't too bad and was more than happy to point me in the right direction to get to Potions class, since I was a Slytherin and Professor Snape was my Head of House. Nearly Headless Nick was generous enough to help me get to Transfiguration, and the Fat Friar directed me to History of Magic.

The only person worse than Peeves would definitely be Argus Filch, the school caretaker, who didn't trust any of the students to behave, not one. I was starting to wonder if he even trusted the teachers at the school. He knew the passageways in the school better than anyone, and had eyes and ears like a house Elf. If you put even one toe out of line in front of his ugly cat, Mrs. Norris, she'd scurry off to go find Mr. Filch, who'd return with her about two seconds later to give you a detention. Everyone hated him and Mrs. Norris deserved a good kick every once in a while.

Classes, however, were a breeze for me, since I already knew our text books inside and out. The worst part was the classes we shared with the Gryffindors and that Hermione Granger who was the only other person in our year who'd read the books like me. Except, unlike me, she was a show off who felt the need to answer every question. Draco, who insisted that I sit next to him in every class, more than once whispered to me that he was glad I wasn't like her, making me smile.

Astrology was exhausting, being up at midnight every Wednesday studying the constellation movements. Herbology was easy, and Professor Sprout seemed like a nice lady. Professor Binns was boring as death itself. The only interesting part about him was the part that he had died, and we had a ghost professor teaching our class. The Charms teacher, Professor Flitwick, was so tiny he had to stand up on a pile of books just to see over his desk. Professor McGonagall was a strict and clever, but fair lady, who taught Transfiguration.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned." Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. I raised an eyebrow at this, and glanced at Draco, who gave me an excited smile. Of course, we got a monstrous pile of homework, but at least we weren't the only ones. The Gryffindors did, too.

We had Herbology and History of Magic (Professor Binns) with Ravenclaw, Potions with Gryffindor, and Charms with Hufflepuff. We had Transfiguration, Astrology, and Defense Against the Dark Arts by ourselves.

By far, Defense Against the Dark Arts was the strangest class. Professor Quirrell was a stuttering, nervous man with a large purple turban around his head that he said he got as a thank-you gift from an Egyptian prince for getting rid of a zombie for him, who no one really believed, since when Justin Finch-Fletchley asked him how he got rid of the zombie, he turned pink and changed the subject. The classroom itself smelled strongly of garlic, and when I asked him why that was, he said it was to ward off vampires. I grinned at this, and when Draco asked me why, I told him because I wanted to be a vampire hunter when I graduated. Or an Auror, if I was skilled enough for it.

Being in the class, or even just the same room as Quirrell, except when Dumbledore was also present made my chest hurt. Sometimes so badly I could hardly stand to breathe. It was weird, but I didn't tell anyone.

Friday, of course, was Potions with Snape. I was nervous, because in all of our classes, I could hear Pansy Parkinson laughing at me over my shoulder, and I couldn't stop the tears from coming back into my eyes. Especially since every day it got worse and worse. I could hear her making fun of me and the way I looked every night before we went to bed when I was trying to sleep. I cried myself to sleep every night this week, and the tears would come back first thing in the morning. It took all of my strength to keep them at bay so no one would find out. I wouldn't be allowed to go to school if anyone knew.

I was stirring my porridge listlessly as the post came in. Hundreds of owls flew over head, and Brutus suddenly dropped down, startling me.

"Brutus?" I asked aloud, surprised to see him. He licked my cheek affectionately, and then held up his leg which held a note. I unstrapped it and tore it open.

_Dearest Dem,_

_Hope you've had a good first week. I haven't gotten any notices about you, so I assume you haven't gotten in trouble. Are the other students treating you alright? Has anyone noticed your abnormality? Hope to hear from you soon._

_Mother_

I sighed as I read the note. Of course the first thing she'd worry about is if anyone had noticed. And, of course, someone had. I didn't want her to worry, so I flipped the page over, snatched Draco's quill, and wrote her a quick response back.

_Mother,_

_First week's been great. No, not as far as I know. I've been accused of dating Draco Malfoy, though, haha. Aside from that, everything's been fine. I have double Potions with Professor Snape today. I'll write you about how it goes when I get out._

_Love,_

_Dem_

I strapped it back onto Brutus, who nipped my nose playfully, the same way he had when I was a little girl, and took off.

Potions took place in the dungeons, not too far from the Slytherin dorms. Not that any of the Gryffindor's we shared Potions with knew that. At the beginning of the week, the dungeons seemed kind of creepy, but our classroom was worse with pickled animals floating around in glass jars. Jars I was rather certain had been meticulously organized.

Snape started by taking roll, and paused for half a heart beat when he got to my name. When he got to Harry's, though, he stopped altogether.

"Ah, yes," he said quietly, "Harry Potter. Our new celebrity." I could hear Draco sniggering behind his hand next to me. He finished calling the roll, and with his black eyes, looked at the class. His cold, dark eyes bored into mine when he got to the Slytherin side. I could sense the fear in them, and knew immediately who he was. Or, at least, who he had been. A Death Eater. Only Death Eaters feared me, and with good reason.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potionmaking." He began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word - like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach." More silence followed this little speech, and I had a huge grin on my face by the end of it, forgetting Pansy Parkinson's usual giggles. "Potter!" He called suddenly, "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Potter and Weasley shared a confused look, while Granger raised her hand. I looked at Draco, who was sniggering behind his hand again, subtly indicated to Hermione and rolled my eyes.

"I don't know, sir." Harry responded, and Snape's features curled into a sneer. I picked up my quill with my left hand and wrote down, 'Draught of Living Death', before showing it to Draco, who also moved to write it down.

"Tut, tut, apparently fame isn't everything." I raised my right hand as well, although not as high as Hermione's. I, of course, knew the answer, too. He ignored us both. "Let's try again, Potter. Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?" I raised my hand again, even though again, Snape ignored both me and Hermione.

"I don't know, sir." 'Stomach of a goat' I scribbled down with my left, still letting Draco copy off me.

"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?" I could tell that Harry was forcing himself to stare into Snape's black eyes, and I secretly gave him props for it. I didn't know if I could under such pressure. "What is the difference, Potter," I put my hand down again, "between monkshood and wolfsbane?" At this, Hermione actually stood up, her quivering, raised hand almost touching the ceiling. I rolled my eyes and raised my hand again.

"I don't know." Harry said quietly, "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?" A few people laughed. Snape was not among them.

"Sit down," he snapped at Granger, "For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane…" He stopped, and his black eyes shot across the room to boar into my green ones again. My hand was still up. "Well, Elixir? Do you know?"

"They are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite." I told him coolly, not letting him intimidate me. His eyes never left mine, and his intensity never lessened.

"Well. Why aren't you all copying that down?" Over the noise of the sudden scramble for quills and parchment, which Draco and I were not among, Snape continued, "A point will be taken from Gryffindor for your cheek, Potter."

Things didn't improve for the Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued, and I only half-pitied them. Snape put us all into pairs (Draco and I, of course, paired up since we were sitting next to each other anyway) and set us to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching us weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone except Malfoy and I. He seemed to like Draco, and was nervous around me. He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville Longbottom had somehow managed to melt his partner's cauldron into a twisted blob, and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes. Within seconds, the whole class was standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.

"Idiot boy!" Snape snarled, clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire." Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose. "Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Longbottom's partner. Then he rounded on Harry and Ron, who had been working next to Neville. "You - Potter - why didn't you tell him not to add the quills. Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you. That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor." Harry looked ready to argue, but Weasley whispered something to him that stopped him.

After class, Professor Snape called on me to stay after class on my way out. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle who had been walking in front of me, stopped, turning to look at me. Vincent and Gregory shrugged their shoulders and continued on, but Draco whispered that he'd wait for me outside the door. I nodded, and then turned around to face off against Snape. I stood in front of his desk while he sat behind it. It was quiet for a minute.

"Miss Elixir-"I held up a hand.

"My Father has spoken highly of you, Professor. Please, call me Demetra while we're conversing privately." He gave me a small, slightly nervous, smile.

"I owe your father a great debt. I also owe Professor Dumbledore a great debt. Both have asked me to keep an eye on you during your tenure here. Two eyes, if I can spare them." I nodded understandingly. "I also know why you look the way you do." I gave him a bitter smile.

"All Death Eaters do." His breath hitched a bit at the term. "I only used the term now to prove a point, Professor. I shall refrain from using it again for your sake." He nodded.

"Has anyone said anything to you about the way you look?" Tears sprang into my eyes, making me look down at the ground. I shook my head fervently. "But someone has said something." I used the end of my sleeves to dab at the corners of my eyes. "Something awful." I wanted so badly to prove that I could handle myself, that I wasn't a crybaby, yet here I was, only a week in and failing miserably. As I tried to control my silent sobs, a hand suddenly pierced the black veil of my hair, touched my chin, and ever so gently lifted my face. Snape's usually cruel and malicious black eyes stared down at me with care. "As your teacher, I cannot do anything to help you unless you can tell me who's been saying things about you." I sniffed and nodded.

"Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode I know for sure." He nodded.

"I will write their families." He released my chin, "Now, unless there is anything else, you may go." I swept out of the room, much calmer than when I entered.

"Hey. What was that all about?" Draco asked, falling in step beside me as I left the classroom. "You were in there a long time." I stopped suddenly beside the entrance to the Slytherin common room.

"Draco… I need you to trust me, okay? There are things about myself I can't explain. You would never believe me, and if you did, you would never want to be associated with me again. Right now…" I looked into his steely blue eyes, "I really need you to be my friend." His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "And unless you hear it coming from me or one of the Professors, don't believe anything anyone says about me, okay?" He nodded.

"Okay. I trust you, Demetra. You can tell me anything, know that." I gave him a small smile.

"Not anything."

Dinner went quietly. Well, loudly, but nothing really exciting happened. As Draco and I entered the Great Hall, one of the last two to get there, things went as they normally do. Gryffindors glared, Ravenclaws turned up their noses, Hufflepuffs just ignored our passing. Draco glared back at the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, but then focused his attention on trying to get me to open up and say something again as we passed the Hufflepuff table and eventually sat down at our Slytherin table. I tried very hard not to notice any of it. Especially once we sat down and Pansy and her gang of brats started pointing at me again. Some of them giggled, while others whispered hurriedly, spreading rumors. I looked up and caught Professor Snape's eye, a bit taken aback that he'd gotten here before Draco and I. I jerked my head in Pansy's direction, and he made a note of all the girls that pointed at me, and then nodded at me. I looked back to see Draco also sharing a look with Snape, but when he realized I'd caught him, he quickly looked down at his food. When I turned to look at the Professor, he had struck up a conversation with Professor Quirrell. My eyes narrowed, but he was intentionally avoiding my gaze.

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><p><strong>hoove-print-on-your-heart - Ikr? Haha. Here's the requested update. :P<strong>

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	6. The Midnight Duel

When we returned to the common room, Malfoy went to go check the postings on the notice board while I went and sat in front of the fire in one of the few high-backed chairs. I didn't want to be seen, I wanted to be alone. Then I heard Draco groan. As I expected, he came over to my chair, stamping his feet in a way that told me he was upset.

"What's wrong, Malfoy?" I asked just as he reached my chair.

"Flying lessons next Thursday." I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I thought you were looking forward to the flying lessons?" He grumbled.

"Yeah, but we're sharing them with the Gryffindors." He then stamped off to go complain to Crabbe and Goyle, and I stared into the fire contemplatively. Gryffindors, huh? Should be interesting. Let's see how well Hermione does in the air.

Thursday morning at breakfast, Neville Longbottom got a package from his gran that intrigued Draco, so of course, he went over to investigate. As if it wasn't bad enough how he gloats over the treats his parents send him every week (although he shares them with me, which is nice), he of course has to pick on other people when they get stuff. I walked over to them to stop Malfoy before he got himself into trouble at the same time Professor McGonagall did.

"What's going on?" She asked with a scowl, and I immediately backed off, not wanting to get in trouble too.

"Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor." Neville told her, and he dropped it with a scowl.

"Just looking." He said, and he and his two goons slinked off towards me. I rolled my eyes when he got to me.

"Really? Do you just have to give Potter and Weasley an excuse to fight you? You're goin' to get hurt one of these days." He rolled his eyes and said nothing.

I only half listened to the conversation going on around me as we walked out to the field where school broomsticks lay out. They were talking about Quidditch, of course. My family had been fans of the Tutshill Tornados for years, and I, of course, kept on the tradition. They asked me, of course, if I followed Quidditch, and I was just telling them about the Tornados and how excited I was about the new line up when the Gryffindors walked up. Madam Hooch appeared a moment later, her spikey grey hair unaffected by the wind and her yellow eyes watching us.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" She barked out, "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up." We all stepped forward, Slytherins on one side, Gryffindors on the other. "Stick your right hand out over the broom, and say 'UP!'." Only mine and Harry Potter's broomsticks leapt up into our hands. Hermione's rolled around on the ground, making me smirk. Neville's voice had a slight quiver in it when he told his broom to get up, and I could almost smell his fear.

Madam Hooch then let us mount, and corrected all of our stances. I had only been on a broom once before, and it was just a normal broom at that, so I wasn't at all surprised to find out I had been on it wrong. Malfoy, of course, due to all his bragging, had been doing it wrong for years and had to be corrected, which made me share a smile with Ron Weasley.

"Now, when I whistle, you kick off the ground, hard. Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle, three, two," Neville was gone. "Come back, boy!" Madam Hooch shouted at him, but it was much too late. Twelve, then twenty feet, up and up he went. I could hear Slytherins around me giggling. He looked down, gasped, and slid sideways off his broom and landed with a hard thud on the ground. Madam Hooch quickly attended to him. "Broken wrist…" I heard her mutter. "Come on, boy, it's alright. Up you get." She turned to the rest of us. "None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear." Neville hobbled along beside her as she led him out, his face tear-streaked and clutching his injured wrist. No sooner had she left than Malfoy, of course, burst into laughter.

"Did you see his face, the great lump." I couldn't help but laughing along, too. What? His face was priceless when he realized how high up he was!

"Shut up, Malfoy." Parvati Patil, a Gryffindor, snapped at him. My face contorted into a snarl, but before I could say anything, Pansy beat me to it.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom? Never thought you'd like fat little crybabies, Parvati."

"Look!" Draco suddenly rushed forward, snatching something up off the ground. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him." It glittered in the sun.

"Give that here, Malfoy." Harry said quietly, a threat hiding in his voice. Draco smiled back nastily.

"I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find, how about up a tree?" He jumped up onto his broom and took off as Harry shouted at him again. "Come get it, Potter!" Harry grabbed his broom. Granger tried reasoning with him, but he just ignored her. I could see the anger written in his features. Draco was in trouble. I grabbed a broomstick, mounted, and waited. They said a few more things to each other, but I only could hear the last thing Malfoy said. "Catch it if you can, then!" He shouted this as he threw the glass ball high into the air. Harry immediately nose-dived, racing the ball to the ground, and caught it at the last second as we all watched in terror.

"HARRY POTTER!" A voice yelled, and we all backed away a bit as Professor McGonagall approached. Harry stumbled to his feet. "Never, in all my time at Hogwarts-"she was speechless, _that's_ how angry she was, "how dare you! Might have broken your neck-"

"It wasn't his fault, Professor-"

"Be quiet, Miss Patil-"

"But Malfoy-"

"That's enough, Mr. Weasley. Potter, follow me, now." I glared at Professor McGonagall as her and the Gryffindor left. She wasn't even decent enough to hear his side of the story! She was probably marching him up to the Gryffindor Tower right now to make him pack his things for home.

I fumed about this for the rest of the day, so furious I couldn't hear Pansy mocking me for being mad about something that's happening to a Gryffindor. I calmed down, though, when I saw him whispering excitedly to Weasley at dinner. George and Fred, Ron's older brothers, came and talked to him for a minute, but quickly left after. I literally smacked my hand against my forehead when I noticed that Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle at walked up to Potter and Weasley. I could almost hear the threats from where I sat at the Slytherin table. I rolled my eyes, and decided to ignore them. The three boys came and sat down on either sides of me a few minutes later.

"Guess what, Demetra." I sighed.

"What, Draco."

"I challenged Potter to a wizard's duel." He told me boastfully, as though this was some great achievement. My head whipped around to look at him, my eyes wide. "And since I know you already know bunches of spells, I chose you as my second." My jaw fell open. "It's tonight at midnight in the trophy room."

"Are you insane?" I whispered to him, trying to hold back the tides of anger that crashed against my skin. "What are you planning to do? Send sparks at him and hope he cowers in fear? You idiot! You'll get caught!" He rolled his eyes.

"No, I won't. But Potter will." Wait, what? "I'm going to tell Filch once we get done eating that I heard that some Gryffindor's are planning on sneaking into the trophy room tonight at around midnight." My eyes widened again, this time in admiration.

"Are you being serious?" He nodded triumphantly. I rolled my eyes, laughing. "Draco Malfoy, you are a sneaky little boy." He laughed at my words, and then dug into his food.

Friday was the best day of my week. Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bulstrode, and Flora and Hestia Carrow all got letters from their parents that made them leave me alone for the entire day. Double Potions went smoothly, as Snape feared me and loved Malfoy, but hated the Gryffindors. Harry and Ron were at breakfast, so they must've not gotten caught, to Draco's confusion and frustration.

A week later, six owls came in with a long parcel and a seventh with a note, which they dropped in front of Potter. Draco, Crabbe, Goyle and I followed Potter and Weasley out of the Great Hall, and I got a good laugh from Malfoy's expression when he found out it was a Nimbus 2000, one of the nicest broomsticks on the market at the time. He was in a rage about it for the rest of the day, making him completely unbearable, but the look on his face had been worth it.

School quickly became so busy that none of us even realized how time was zooming past us. Halloween morning, we woke up to the smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. Professor Flitwick let us start trying to make objects fly, and I spent the entire lesson teaching Draco how to properly enunciate 'Wingardium Leviosa', seeing as I already knew it. Flitwick was so excited to see that I'd already mastered it that he pointed it out to the entire class, but made the mistake of mentioning that Hermione Granger had also mastered quickly earlier that day in his other class. The feather that was levitating gracefully in the air suddenly burst into black and green flames.

Draco tried several times to ask me how I did that and why Flitwick got so scared of me he let us out early, but I deflected all of his questions until we entered the Great Hall. The Halloween decorations put it out of our minds.

A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared on our golden plates just as it had at the start-of-the-term banquet. I was just digging into a baked potato when Professor Quirrell came running in, his turban all messed up and his face contorted in fear. A strange pain suddenly hit my heart as usual, this time, however, it was worse than it normally was. I could hardly see straight, let alone breath right. All I heard was, "Troll - in the dungeons - thought you ought to know," before the room suddenly filled with screams, and my world filled with black.

I awoke to someone putting a damp, warm towel on my forehead. I looked to see Malfoy sitting next to me on my bed in the Slytherin girl's dorm room.

"D-Draco?" He gave me a half-smile.

"Hello Demetra." He shifted a bit so I could sit up. "How do you feel?" I put a hand to my forehead, my head throbbing.

"Like someone just hit me in the head with a troll's club. What happened?"

"Someone let a troll into the dungeons. Granger was nearly killed by it, but Potter and Weasley took it out." I nodded. "What happened to you?" I rubbed my forehead and eyes, unable to look into his.

"I'm not sure. I've been having some weird pains in my chest. I think the smell of garlic brings it out, because it always hurts when I'm in Quirrell's class." He got a thoughtful look.

"That is weird." There was a long pause. "Oh, and they got Gryffindor 5 points for it."

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	7. Hallowe'en

November was quickly upon us. It seemed to go from sunshine to ice over night, the lake a steel color and the mountains a strange grey. Of course, though, everyone loved November; it was the start of the new Quidditch season.

It had leaked out that Harry Potter was going to playing for Gryffindor, being the youngest player in almost a century. I saw the way he flew on that day he'd earned it, and knew he'd do well. I knocked the books out of his hands 'on accident' one day as I passed him in a hall, and told him as I bent over to help him pick them up that I would be rooting for him. Not the whole team, just him. He thanked me quietly, and then left for his next class.

I figured out later that Snape had somehow injured his leg, since I watched him hobble about one day across the Hogwarts courtyard. I also watched him confiscate a book from Potter, and scowled. He made up the rule about library books being taken outside the school, as I had taken out dozens to go read on the school grounds.

The next morning, Flint was talking our ears off about the upcoming Quidditch match. He wasn't going into the details of their strategy, as the 'details' were 'break-all-rules-and-don't-get-caught', but he was genuinely curious to see how Potter would do as a Seeker. Malfoy told him the Gryffindor would do terrible, but I wasn't so sure. Flint got our minds off it, though, when he asked us if we'd try out for Slytherin next year. I just shrugged, while Draco said he wanted to try out for Seeker. I teased him about just wanting to be able to compete with Potter, but then told him seriously I thought he stood a chance of getting the position.

By 11 o'clock, almost the entire school was out in the stands to cheer for their team. The exceptions were the Slytherin and Gryffindor teams, who were fine tuning their strategy. Or, at least, Gryffindor was. Who actually knows what goes on behind those closed curtains before a match in the Slytherin tent. I sat between Draco and Goyle, a book shoved under my arm. That was when we saw it.

Granger, Weasley, Longbottom, Thomas, and Finnigan were standing in the Gryffindor stands, holding a monstrous banner that read, 'Potter for President', with a Gryffindor lion painted beneath. The sign itself almost made Draco snap his wand in half, he was so infuriated. I, however, looked through his binoculars to watch Hermione cast a charm on it that made it change colors. I snarled, my blood boiling at her 'cleverness'. I missed the slightly frightened looks of my friends, and was startled out of my moment of hate by the shrill whistle of Madam Hooch's – the referee –whistle.

And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor - what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too -"

"JORDAN!"

"Sorry, Professor." The Weasley twins' friend, Lee Jordan, was doing the commentary for the match, closely watched by Professor McGonagall. "And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Wood's, last year only a reserve - back to Johnson and - no, the Slytherins have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes - Flint flying like an eagle up there - he's going to sc- no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood and the Gryffindors take the Quaffle - that's Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and - OUCH - that must have hurt, hit in the back of the head by a Bludger - Quaffle taken by the Slytherins - that's Adrian Pucey speeding off toward the goal posts, but he's blocked by a second Bludger - sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can't tell which - nice play by the Gryffindor Beater, anyway, and Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes - she's really flying - dodges a speeding Bludger - the goal posts are ahead- come on, now, Angelina - Keeper Bletchley dives - misses - GRYFFINDORS SCORE!" Gryffindor cheers filled the cold air, with howls and moans from the Slytherins.

"Slytherin in possession," Lee Jordan was saying, "Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasleys, and Chaser Bell, and speeds toward the - wait a moment - was that the Snitch." A murmur ran through the crowd as Adrian Pucey dropped the Quaffle; too busy looking over his shoulder at the flash of gold that had passed his left ear.

My eyes shot straight up to catch sight of Harry Potter zooming straight down, hunting the Golden Snitch like an eagle that had just spotted its next meal. Our Seeker, Terence Higgs, had seen it too and they went speeding after it until Marcus got in Potter's way. Slytherin got the foul, and Gryffindor was allowed a free shot at the goal posts. As one of their Chaser's took her shot, Flint glanced into the stands and gave me a quick smile before returning his attention to the game. Jordan, of course, was finding it difficult to not take sides.

"So - after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating-"

"Jordan!" growled Professor McGonagall.

"I mean, after that open and revolting foul-"

"Jordan, I'm warning you -"

"All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinner, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor still in possession."

I tuned out the rest of the game. I normally got bored during Quidditch games, so I took out the book I had brought with me. _Quidditch through the Ages_. I "found" it in the Potions classroom when I was "looking for my watch" that had gone missing. There were a few interesting stories in there, including that the longest game of Quidditch ever played was six months. Well, at least until Draco grabbed the book from me.

"Hey!" I cried, standing up angrily. Malfoy rolled his eyes and then pointed into the sky.

"Look! It's Potter!" He hurriedly handed me his binoculars, and I looked through them to see Harry dangling from his broom by one hand. My eyes widened. I handed Draco back the binoculars and reached for my wand. The entire crowd was on its feet, watching, transfixed by their own horror. A few minutes went by, and then I heard a yelp of surprise. Looking over to the next set of stands, there seemed to be something wrong with Professor Snape's robes, although he looked fine from where I was. I looked back up at Harry to see him suddenly able to climb back up onto his broom and start speeding to the ground. A noise behind me caught my attention, and I turned to see Hermione Granger running behind the stands from where Snape had been back to her seat. I narrowed my eyes, suspicious.

"I've got the Snitch!" I turned around to see Potter on his knees on the pitch, holding the Golden Snitch above his head.

"He nearly swallowed it!" Flint was still howling twenty minutes _after_ he'd explained what happened to me.

"Would you," I growled out quietly before rapidly escalating the volume of my voice, "SHUT UP? We KNOW. You've told us a hundred times! Get over it!" I huffed at his surprised expression. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need answers." Turning around briskly, I swept off towards Hagrid's house on the edge of the grounds.

"I found out something about him," I heard Harry Potter's voice drifting out the open window that I huddled beneath. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog on Halloween. It bit him. We think he was trying to steal whatever it was guarding." Something crashed to the ground.

"How do you know about Fluffy?" Hagrid asked.

"Fluffy?" Weasley this time.

"Yeah, he's mine. Bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub las' year. I lent him to guard the-"I stood up on my toes, trying to get as close as possible to hear what he was about to say.

"Yes?" Asked Harry eagerly.

"No, don't ask me anymore." Hagrid said gruffly. "That's top secret, that is."

"But Snape's trying to steal it!" Harry argued.

"Rubbish. Snape's a Hogwarts teacher, he'd do nothin' of the sort."

"So why did he just try to kill Harry?" Cried Hermione Granger's nails-on-a-chalkboard voice. "I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid, I've read all about them! You've got to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking at all, I saw him!"

"I'm tellin' yeh, yer wrong!" Hagrid replied hotly. "I don' know why Harry's broom acted like that, but Snape wouldn' try an' kill a student! Now, listen to me, all three of yeh - yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guardin', that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel -"

"Aha!" Said Harry, "So there's someone called Nicolas Flamel involved, is there." I snuck away as quietly as possible, sensing the end of the conversation.

My mind was reeling as I made my way back down to the Slytherin dungeons. What three-headed dog? What's it guarding? What are Dumbledore and this Nicolas Flamel hiding? Why was Snape allegedly trying to kill Potter? How could he have been trying to steal whatever this Fluffy is guarding when I saw him down in the dungeons just before Weasley and Potter defeated the troll, uninjured? Is that possible, or is this Fluffy in the-…

Third floor corridor on the right-hand side. Barred to all students who do not wish to 'die a very painful death'. Or teachers who do not want to be bitten by a three-headed dog. I ran the rest of the way to the dungeons.

"Basilisk!" I told the stone wall, trying to catch my breath. It slid open, and I ran in. "Draco!" I called, seeing him relaxing on one of the leather couches, and ran over to him. "Draco," I whispered, "We're going rumor hunting tonight. Meet me out here at midnight." He gave me a weird look, but nodded, agreeing to meet me anyway. "Don't. Tell. A. Soul." I ground out, and he nodded again.

The people who usually stay up late talking were almost all on the Quidditch team, and the rest were their close friends. Since they were all exhausted from the day's game, the common room was deserted when I shut the door to the girl's dorm. The fire, however, was still roaring, with one Draco Malfoy sitting in one of the only two high-backed chairs facing the fireplace. I saw him peeking around the corner when I opened the door, and he stood up when he saw that it was me who stepped out. I walked up to him, trying to not let my slippers slap against the floor.

"Demetra?" He asked tentatively as I approached, "Where are we going?" His voice was soft, not wanting to wake anyone.

"Third floor corridor on the right hand side." I told him as I turned towards the door.

"What?" He squeaked. "Isn't that barred to all students?" As much as he may enjoy making fun of others and getting other kids to break the rules so he could catch them and get them in trouble, Draco actually hated breaking the rules. Always afraid the one time he'd do it, he'd get caught, no matter how many times I told him that if he did it a lot of times, the practice would keep him from getting caught.

"Yup." I replied confidently, opening the door to the rest of the dungeons. He scurried after me.

"Why?" He asked as we headed down the hallway. I shushed him.

"Because, I think I know what's in there, but I need to verify it. Now, shush!"

He nervously chewed his lips all the way down the hall, up the stairs to the third floor, clutching my hand with his sweaty one. I had always had this uncanny ability to see really well in the dark, so I had no trouble navigating the halls of Hogwarts at night. However, Malfoy wasn't as lucky, and so had to hold my hand or else get lost. I tried very, very hard to ignore the flip flops my stomach was doing and how hard my blood was pumping in my ears because of it.

Finally, we reached the locked door.

"Alohomora." I commanded, tapping the lock with my wand. The door swung open on its own, and we shuffled through. I turned to look at Draco with a smirk, "See? Easy."

However, he wasn't even acknowledging my presence, just staring ahead of him, whimpering in fear, his face paler than usual. I turned around. The corridor was home to a dog. A three-headed dog named Fluffy, who was sleeping peacefully… until the door snapped back shut.

All six eyes opened at once, startled out of its peaceful slumber. My heart thudded as I took in the entirety of the being. It was a monster, filling the entire corridor with its sheer size. It's three noses started twitching in our direction, and the three mouths it had started drooling huge globs from its yellowish teeth.

I glanced down and around, trying to see what it could be guarding as it slowly stood. I had only seconds, and I had to-there! Beneath it! A trapdoor, leading who-knows-where. Immediately, I reached up, grabbed the door handle, and threw the door open and Draco through it before quickly following. I pulled the door shut behind me, locking it back just as easily as I had opened it. When I turned around, Draco was laying on his back on the floor, his face still pale.

"Wha-wha-what-…" I kneeled down next to him, and he was able to see me now that his eyes had adjusted a bit and I was close.

"I overheard Hagrid, the groundskeeper, telling Potter, Granger, and Weasley that he had bought a three-headed dog named Fluffy from some Greek fellow, and was loaning him to Dumbledore to protect something that the Headmaster and someone named Nicolas Flamel are involved with. Snape's visited Fluffy, but I don't know why, and was bit as a result. The Gryffindors think that Snape was trying to steal what Fluffy's guarding when the troll got into the school, but I don't think so. All I know for certain is that something _is_ going on here, and that dog" I pointed behind me to the corridor we'd just been in, "is my only proof." By the time I'd finished, Draco had calmed down some. He nodded, absorbing all the information.

"Okay, so, why did you drag me up here?"

"I needed a witness." He rolled his eyes, and I helped him up. "Come on, we can talk more back down in the common room." He nodded again, and grabbed my hand so I could lead him.

We were almost caught by Filch, but we ducked into a classroom and waited for him to move on. Those were the most awkward five minutes of my life, holding Draco so close to me I could feel his breath heating my neck. We're the same height, but we were both breathing through our mouths because of how afraid we were. We waited until it had already been a few minutes since Filch had passed before heading back out, and the rest of the way was quiet.

The door shut soundly behind us, and we leaned up against it, breathing heavily. We had been holding our breaths since our encounter with Filch, afraid that the noise might alert him to our presence, so fresh oxygen to our brains felt nice. After a minute, Draco got a thoughtful look.

"You know that name you mentioned, Nicolas Flamel? It sounds familiar, like I've heard it before." My eyebrows furrowed.

"In class?" He shook his head.

"No, I think I read it somewhere. Like a book or something." I thought for a few minutes, trying to see if the name was familiar to me.

"Where ever you heard it from," I said, shaking my head "Is something I'm not involved with, because I don't know the name."

"If you want, we could go check the library tomorrow and see if we can't find a book about recent magical history. It would have to be recent, right? Flamel knows Dumbledore." I laughed.

"Better not try something too recent, who knows how old Dumbledore _really_ is." Draco laughed too. We parted after that, both exhausted from our adventure, though neither of us slept, our minds buzzing with thoughts about what we'd learned.

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><p><strong>hoove-print-on-your-heart -Yup. Lol. "Stuttering mess wearing a turban" made me LOL. XD<strong>

**near4EVER - Here ya go! :)**

**Umbreon666 - Hahahaha, that's all you ever tell me! XP**

**Review! =)**


	8. Christmas Pt 1

**I've got a bunch of stuff to do for like, the rest of the month, so I just decided to go ahead and put up the rest of Sorcerer's Stone while I still had a bit of time. I'll start up 'Chamber of Secrets' here like, soon as Christmas is over, or sooner if I can manage it.**

**This chapter might cause some controversy, cuz I'm kinda of making a risky decision involving everyone's favorite twins... O well.**

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><p>December found Draco and I locked in the library every night after hours and between classes. At meal times, we crammed as much food down as quickly as possible, then went back to the dorms and slept to try and catch up on what we missed, and did homework on Friday before Potions.<p>

We barely even noticed the changing weather outside, how the lake froze solid and the school was buried beneath several feet of snow. The Weasley twins, though, made us laugh with the snowballs that followed Professor Quirrell around, bouncing off his turban. The only owl that made it through the harsh storms outside and didn't have to be nursed back to health by Hagrid was Brutus, my family's owl, who was bred to endure such things, and was used in Alaska in the United States before my parents bought him. The Malfoy's occasionally used Brutus to send Draco things, since it was too hard on their owl.

No one could wait for the holidays to start. Draco had already told me that he would be going home, but I had been the first Slytherin to sign up to stay. I wanted to try to do more research at the school, especially since I found out Hermione Granger was leaving, and see if I couldn't figure out who Flamel was before her. That, and… well, things were always scary at my house when the holidays came and Father suddenly had loads of time to sit around and make sure I didn't misbehave. Especially once he ordered the elves to break open the liquor cabinet.

I had never been more grateful for the roaring fire we had down in the Slytherin dungeons and in the Great Hall, but the corridors had become rather drafty, and the wind rattled the windows in our classes. Potions class, of course, was the worst, the only thing keeping us from freezing being our hot cauldrons. Our hands shook badly as we tried to take notes, and I always had to take mine back to the common room and re-write it all, since my handwriting was so illegible.

I resented Draco's comments he made during class about feeling sorry for kids who had to stay behind because they're unwanted at home. Sure, it was directed at Potter, but it still hurt to think about my situation. At least Harry had the strength to ignore them, whereas I had to listen and laugh right along with them.

I knew in my heart that Draco was just angry about the Quidditch loss, and was simply getting back at Potter for it. I found it immature, but Malfoy will never learn. I tried asking Harry about the bucking broomstick, but he dodged all my questions, just as I expected he would. He didn't want to tell me what he thought about Professor Snape hexing it, which was fine by me, since I already knew the truth.

We left Potions a bit later than everyone else, since Draco had stopped to ask me if I'd found out anything about Flamel, using the noise of everyone else packing up to cover our voices. He grunted in irritation, and told me he'd ask Goyle and Crabbe about it later. I nodded, and told him he might wanna try Parkinson too, since she seemed infatuated with him. He laughed, and said he would try her. After that, we packed up and left, only to find a monstrous tree blocking our path out.

"Would you mind moving out of the way," Malfoy said in his usual cold drawl, "Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose. That hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what your family's used to." I would have stopped Ron's dive at Draco, but I had already heard Snape's soft footsteps up the stairs behind us, and simply waited.

"WEASLEY!" Ron let go of the front of Draco's robes.

"He was provoked, Professor Snape." Hagrid said, his face sticking out between the branches. "Malfoy was insultin' his family."

"Be that as it may, fighting is against Hogwarts rules, Hagrid." Snape's silky voice told him. "Five points from Gryffindor, Weasley, and be grateful it isn't more. Move along, all of you." Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle pushed past the tree, scattering the needles and smirking, but I stayed behind. "Something you need, Elixir?" The silky voice asked, and I turned back around to talk to him.

"May we speak in private, Professor?" He led me out of the room, and I could hear Potter and Weasley grumbling about Draco and Snape as we left. We went down a few corridors, and then he turned into an empty classroom.

"What is it, Demetra?" He asked as the door clicked shut behind me. He had already turned to face me, a lit fire in the space between us that I stepped a bit closer to.

"I wanted to give you your Christmas present."

He raised an eyebrow at me, and then came closer. He stuck his right hand out over the fire, anticipating being handed a book or a box or something. I reached out, and took his left hand with my own, and then reached under his robes to grasp his forearm with my right hand, right over where his mark was. I shut my eyes, and tried to stop myself from writhing with the pain that flowed into my system. Through my palm, up my arm, straight into my heart, agony coursed through my blood. I normally didn't hold on this long, but since it was the first time I'd done it with Snape, I wanted to make sure I was thorough, which meant that the pain was doubling as each second I held his arm with a vice grip passed. I opened my eyes for just a second, and saw that the blue flames that had been crackling beneath us had enveloped the two of us in black fire. The heat, however, never reached me. I only felt the pain from his mark. Finally, when there was nothing left to take away, I released him, and we both fell back, the fire around us instantly going out. There was a moment where the only sound that filled the room was our heavy breathing, and I couldn't feel the cold that I knew was still in the room, my blood was pumped too full of the heat I'd just pulled from Snape.

"What…" He asked after a long moment, and I could just feel the cold nipping at my nose like Brutus sometimes does, "What did you do to me?" He looked up to see me huddled against the door, curled into a tight ball, clutching my right hand. I looked up to see him bent over, holding his left arm close to himself.

"Look at your arm, Professor."

My mind was reeling with thoughts and memories that were not my own. I saw a boy who looked an awful lot like Harry, except with different eyes, picking on me. A young boy using a scourging charm to clean my mouth. Swearing allegiance to Lord Voldemort. Meeting a red-haired girl for the first time that made my heart pump fast in my chest, and thinking that she was the prettiest girl I'd ever laid eyes on. Becoming Potions teacher and Head of the Slytherin House at Hogwarts. They zoomed past my eyes so fast I didn't have time to dwell on any one thing. I searched, however, for the name Flamel, and had just caught it when Snape's gasp distracted me. The only thing I caught from the memory was speaking to Dumbledore about an old man who had access to the Fountain of Youth, and the man and his wife now being ready to die at over 600 years old. It was recent. Very recent. Last year, at least, if not the last six months.

"How is this even possible?" He asked me, making me lose my focus, and his memories emptied out of my head. I smiled a bit, noticing he was still staring at his arm.

"It isn't." He looked over at me in confusion, "It's only temporary. I absorbed all of his evil out of that mark, and took it within myself. In a few days, it will slowly start to creep back. Over the next two weeks, it will resume its shape and color. By three weeks, it'll be exactly the way it was five minutes ago, unchanged." He was quiet, soaking in this information and going back to staring at his arm. "I thought it might be nice to have a Christmas for the first time in a long time where you were just Severus Snape. Not Severus Snape, former… well, you know." He nodded slowly, and I saw a tear streak down his cheek. He was quiet for another minute, and I tried to focus my attention on the pain still rocketing around inside my chest, my heart feeling like it could give out any second.

"Thank you." He said so quietly I almost missed it, and for a few seconds, wondered if I'd imagined it. "You have given me the greatest Christmas gift I have ever received." He said a bit louder. I nodded, and he looked up at me again. "Are you alright?" I shrugged, trying to play it off.

"I just absorbed the most I have in a long while from one of those marks. It'll take me a few hours to get over this pain. And before you say anything, nothing Madam Pomfrey can give me will help. My parents have tried every medicine in the world, even some Muggle ones. Nothing helps, only time." I sighed. "I'll probably just stay in here until it's passed enough I can at least act like nothing's wrong. If you wish to leave, you may do so. I've done all I can for you." He nodded, and swept out of the room.

I'm not sure how long I lay there, slowly feeling the cold creep back and the hot pain recede. It felt like days, but was probably only an hour or two. Just when I thought that I should try to stand, who else should open the door and sneak into the classroom but the Weasley twins.

"Okay, I think we're safe. Let's see what the map says. I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." They opened up a large parchment I hadn't noticed them carry in.

"Heh, I wonder what happened here." One of them rubbed the ground with his foot where the fire had been. There was a small black spot on the ground Snape had been too distracted to clean up.

"Snape lit a fire there." I said, standing up and withdrawing my wand from my pocket. They whirled around. I glanced at their parchment; it was a map of the school. "Wicked map. Get lost some times, Weasleys?" I asked, a smirk playing on my features. "Accio map." Father taught me that one during the summer. The map flung out of their hands and right into mine.

My eyes widened considerably as two feet with a flag attached appeared in the classroom we were in, my name appearing in the curly flag. The Weasley twins across from me. Professor Snape was in the dungeons. Professor Dumbledore was in his office, pacing back and forth. Professor McGonagall was in a classroom, teaching. All the teachers, even Hagrid and Filch, were on the parchment.

"This… this is a map of Hogwarts." I closed it and looked up at the twins to see them nodding guiltily. I narrowed my eyes. "I'll make you two a deal." They looked up at me, their eyes wide. "I _should_ take this to Professor Snape and turn you two in right now." Their eyes widened a bit further, a bit of fear in there. They knew how much trouble they'd be in if Snape saw this.

"You wouldn't." One of them threatened.

"I won't." I conceded, "In return for my generosity, you two will show me how to use this, and let me borrow it when I need it. Deal?" They shared a look.

"Why should we make a deal with a Slytherin like you?" The other asked.

"Because any other Slytherins would have run for Snape or Filch by now." I gave them a smirk, "Did you two think you were the only troublemakers in this school?" They shared another look, and I handed back the parchment.

"Deal." They said as I shook their hands, having to cross mine at my wrists. "All you have to do is tap the map with your wand and say, 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good', and the map will appear."

"But to get the map to go away, you simply say, 'Mischief managed'." The one who spoke tapped the map with his wand as he said this, and all the ink faded away. I tapped it with my wand.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." They showed me the front of it.

_Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs_

_Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers_

_Are proud to present_

_THE MARAUDER'S MAP_

"It will show you every corner of the castle, every inch of the grounds, every secret passageways in the walls, and every person on the grounds." They told me, going back and forth as they listed the map's capabilities. "We don't know if it can be fooled, haven't had a chance to test that." I grinned broadly. "When will you be needing its services?"

"Tonight." They nodded.

"We'll leave it inside a book behind the statue of Gunhilda of Gorsemoor. It's one of the passageways, right here," one of them pointed to a secret passage in the Defense Against the Dark Arts tower, "The password is Dissendium." They turned to leave.

"Wait!" They stopped, and turned to look back at me. "Should the time come, we should have some kind of password so we know it's really the other person." The two of them nodded.

"_Put Snape in a potion,_

_And make no commotion._

_Filch will be here,_

_So you better disappear._

_With danger all fraught,_

_And peril here too,_

_Whatever you do,_

_Don't get caught!"_

"Make sure you memorize that." I said as they grinned at my poem. "It will be our password." They nodded and then left.

My knees buckled, and I almost collapsed to the ground as a huge wave of pain rolled over me, but I managed to stay standing. I waited a while longer, and then finally left the classroom. The pain would melt away when I could go to bed, but it was going to be a while before I could sneak back to the Slytherin dungeons. My mind had temporarily forgotten about Flamel, dwelling on all the possibilities that the Marauder's Map presented. It made my heart beat hard with excitement that I tried to not show on my face as I entered the Great Hall. It was already time for dinner. Draco had been monitoring the door from where he sat, and stood up on his chair to flag me down to come sit with him. When I finally sat down, he yanked on my shoulder to pull me in close so I could hear him whispering over the din of the crowd.

"Talked to Crabbe and Goyle. They knew Flamel." He pulled something out of his pocket, "Read this." When I took whatever it was from his hand, he released me and went straight back to his food. It was a card from the Chocolate Frogs that some people collect. One side showed Dumbledore, and the other had information on him.

"ALBUS DUMBLEDORE CURRENTLY HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner…" I gasped as my eyes went over the next two words, "Nicolas Flamel!" I looked at up at Malfoy. "Draco, this is it! You did it! Now we have a clue!" I was so happy I could have kissed him, but instead, he just sent me a fast grin and then we returned to acting like nothing had happened. "Eat quickly," I said conversationally between bites of potato, "I need a lookout while I get something from Gunhilda of Gorsemoor." He gave me a confused look, but nodded anyway.

When we finished, we complained loudly of having lots of homework to do, and that we needed to go back to dungeons to go catch up. The second the door to the Great Hall snapped shut behind us; we took off, full run, to the Defense Against the Dark Arts tower. It was deserted when we arrived, nothing but Gunhilda staring down at us. Even the portraits were quiet.

"Dissendium." I told the statue, and it moved out of my way so I could reach behind it and grope for the book.

"Woah." I heard Draco say quietly behind me. "How did yo-?" I smirked.

"I'm not at liberty to say. If you knew, I could get in troub-aha! Here it is!" I pulled out a copy of _Blood Brothers: My Life Amongst the Vampires_ by Eldred Worple. Draco glanced around, keeping his eyes and ears out for anyone coming. I opened the book, and in the middle was a folded piece of parchment I recognized as the map. "Alright, let's go." He gave me a quizzical look.

"All this for a book on vampires?"

"It's not the book I need, but what's inside it. Come on, we can't get caught now." We ran back towards the dungeons, praying to any divine being who was listening that we weren't stopped or caught on the way. I had just cried the password to the door when Marcus Flint came around the corner.

"Malfoy, Elixir! What are you two doing here? I thought you were doing homework." We shared a quick glance.

"I remembered that, um, Professor Quirrell said he would lend me his book on vampires," I held up the book in my hands for him to see, "Since I've taken such an interest in them lately. And since Draco and I had already been working so hard, we decided to take a break to go get it."

"So why are you two so out of breath?"

"We were racing to see who was fastest." Flint laughed.

"Well, who won?"

"I did, because I said the password first." I covered quickly, and Marcus clapped me on the back.

"Good job. Do you get anything?" I shrugged.

"A Chocolate Frog, since it was the only thing that Malfoy and I both have that we would be willing to bet on." He grinned at me.

"I'm sure it was well earned." And then he went inside, Draco and I following behind. Now totally exhausted, Draco yawned and said he'd work some more on his way home tomorrow, but he needed sleep. Flint and I bid him a goodnight, and then I left a few minutes later, also saying I was tired.

I climbed into bed, and bided my time, thinking about Quidditch to help distract me. I almost dozed off a couple of times, but the feeling that I was so close to discovering who Nicolas Flamel was kept me awake.

Finally, my patience paid off when I heard the last Slytherins bid each other a good night and put out a fire down in the common room. When I was sure that the girls who had come up and climbed into their beds were asleep, I snuck downstairs with the map in my hands, my eyes adapting to the darkness immediately. It was freezing, my nightgown and underwear being my only source of warmth, but I didn't care. I stole away from the dungeons, my feet making no noise on the stairs to the Entrance Hall. When I finally reached a window that let in some moonlight, I opened the map up, activating it with my wand. There was virtually no one on it, the exceptions being Dumbledore, who was pacing in his office, Filch, who was monitoring the seventh floor, and Mrs. Norris, who was on the third floor. I smiled. None of them were in the direct path to the Owlery, where I needed to go.

It took me about 10 minutes to get up there, as I had to stop to wait for Filch to pass me on the fourth floor, since he had doubled back and surprised me. Finally, though, I made it up there and called for my owl.

"Orion? Orion!" A bird from way up high came down, and landed on one of the empty perches beside me. "Hey Orion." He nipped my fingers gently as I petted him, glad to see me. "Yeah, sorry, with the weather, I was afraid to send you. I didn't want to see you get hurt." I gave him a treat, which he took from me happily. I found a quill and extra piece of parchment lying on the floor, presumably from where other students had left them. An ink well lay half-spilt on the floor, and I picked it up to use the rest. I used the wall to scribble out a fast note. "Can you take this to my house elf, Ivy, back home? Don't let my parents see you." He nipped my finger again, and took off. It was the one night I could send him since a storm had blown out early that morning, and another could be seen coming in on the horizon.

The letter I wrote to Ivy told her that I needed Father's papers from the months of June to September of the _Daily Prophet_. Father always, _always_ kept the last six months of the _Daily Prophet_ before throwing them out just in case he needed them. Since they were the ones he was about to ask Ivy to throw out, he wouldn't notice if they went missing for a week or two. I also told her that this was to be kept absolutely secret, because it could mean certain doom (*coughcough*) if Father found out.


	9. ChristmasPt2 & The Mirror of Erised

The next few days passed without word back from Ivy. I wasn't expecting the reply to be immediate, seeing as I emphasized secrecy in my letter to her.

The Weasley twins, however, kept me busy, pranking each other with all this free time we suddenly had. I woke up one morning with a snake (non-poisonous, of course) in my bed. They woke up the next day with green and silver bed spreads and sheets. My books went missing. Their pumpkin juice had frogs in them. It was fun, and we kept it pretty harmless. George (once I figured out how to tell the difference) told me in passing once that I had impressed them with my jokester knowledge. I didn't tell him that between pranks I was frequently visiting the library reading, _Pokes and Pranks, a Beginners Guide to Mischief_ by Tom Foolry, with the name 'Moony' written in the cover. I found it one of the nights Draco and I had snuck out to go search for Nicolas Flamel's name in the library, hiding behind _Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century _and _Notable Magical Names of Our Time_ like it had been put there for safe-keeping.

When I woke up on Christmas morning, I actually wasn't expecting presents from anyone outside of my family. I was surprised when I rolled out of bed to find a pile of presents sitting there next to me.

"Merry Christmas." I heard a few of the girls around me mumble out, some of them had stayed up all night with their boyfriends down in the common room and were still tired. I stared at the pile.

"What's the matter, Elixir? Expect something else?" Parkinson, who had by and large been completely avoiding me, sneered out. She still occasionally made fun of me, but it had calmed down. She had to stay at Hogwarts this year because her parents had decided to go to China for Christmas, and left before our break started. I ignored her questions and started unwrapping gifts.

The first package, of course, was from my parents with a note, saying they were proud of me, loved me, and wished me a Merry Christmas from Paris. The gift was a small ring with the Elixir crest on it, surrounded by small diamonds and emeralds.

The next was from Crabbe and Goyle, who'd bought me a white, silky scarf.

A small parcel wrapped in black caught my eye, and a small note from Draco wished me a Merry Christmas, told me he missed me, and that this gift was something to remember him by. It was a long, silver chain that reached my stomach, on the end was a small ornament that had the Malfoy family crest on it. I pulled it on over my head, and shoved it down my shirt so it would stay hidden. I vowed never to take it off.

I glanced back over at the tiny pile to see two gifts left, both wrapped in black. The long and thinner one of the two was wrapped in the same material that Draco's had been wrapped in with a note saying it was from the Malfoy family, and the other had a green band wrapped around it made of silk. I opened the Malfoy's first. Inside was a long, beautiful black dress. Shoulderless, the top of it was laced and came with gloves that would match up with where the dress ended. It took me all of two seconds to realize that this dress would accent my pale skin, not hide it like I normally try to.

_Never be ashamed of what you are, and why you are this way._

_Merry Christmas_

_The Malfoy Family_

I set the note down on the ground and it spontaneously combusted into flames, burning it away until there was nothing left but ashes.

I picked up the last parcel. There was no note, just a small piece of parchment attached that said it was to me and from Professor Snape. I unwrapped the bulky present to find a book. _Moste Potente Potions._ I opened it to find a scrawl written just inside the cover.

_Demetra,_

_No one must know you have this. The only other place you could find a copy of this book in most parts of the world is in the Restricted Section of Hogwarts Library. Fate, it seems, has deemed you fit for greatness. This will help you on your way. Be careful._

_Severus Snape_

I noticed that inside a few pages had already been bunny-eared with an _"SS"_ written on it. Even though I badly wanted to see what he had marked for me to read, but knew that I would have to wait for everyone to leave before that would even be possible. I pushed the book and dress beneath my bed, hiding them from view.

Dinner, even though there were so few of us, was made for the entire student body. A hundred fat, roast turkeys; mountains of roast and boiled potatoes; platters of chipolatas; tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce, and stacks of wizard crackers every few feet along the table. I could almost hear Draco now, going on and on about the amazing party favors that his family has every Christmas.

I glanced up in time to watch Potter and Fred set one of the crackers off, engulfing them in blue smoke. Parkinson had trouble pulling one, so I helped her with it. The sound was much louder when you're holding the cracker instead of watching someone else do it from across the Great Hall. Green smoke (fitting, since we're Slytherins) surrounded us, and I scooped up the Chocolate Frog that hopped out while Pansy took the bridal veil. We giggled at how it looked on us, getting along for the first time all year.

After the turkey was the flaming Christmas pudding. I looked up at the Professor's table, and laughed at Dumbledore's flowery bonnet.

I waited and waited, until finally Harry got up and left the Gryffindor table, and then excused myself from the Slytherins. I called to him when the door shut behind me.

"Hey, Potter!" He turned around slowly, giving a soft groan. "Don't worry; I'm not here to make fun of you. I actually came to give you this." I handed him a small vial that I'd made earlier that day. "It's my Christmas gift to you. I found a book in the library that had some wacky potions to use as a prank, but I think it's neat." His look showed his distrust of me.

"How do I know this won't make hair come out of my nose?" I giggled.

"As hilarious as that would be, that's not what it's for. It makes your eyes change colors for a couple of hours and then it wears off." He shuffled a few things he was carrying around. "Hey, you play wizard's chess?" I asked, noticing his new set. He nodded. "We'll have to play sometime. Well, see you around, Potter." After that, I went back to the Slytherin dorms and climbed into bed, stuffed and exhausted, yet exhilarated.

I pulled out the book Snape had bought me, and studied the pages he'd marked. Polyjuice Potion, Laxative Potion, and others. He left notes in the book, like where to find certain ingredients, and what times stirring the cauldron will make the potion more potent, and the like.

When the others trickled in, I quickly stashed the book back under my bed, but couldn't find sleep. I laid there awake for hours, wondering what Draco was up to, where those papers I'd requested from Ivy were, why Snape had seen fit to give me such an advanced book. Finally, I couldn't stand just laying there anymore, and got out of bed.

I cursed my stupidity, giving the Weasley twins back the map, as it would have proved useful right now. Instead, I had to rely on common sense, my strange ability to see well in the dark, and focusing on what little I could hear. I tried hard to not touch anything, for fear of leaving a scent behind that Mrs. Norris could trace. I headed for the library, and when I heard voices up ahead.

"You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wandering around at night, and somebody's been in the library Restricted Section." I cursed my luck, and then realized that Filch's voice was getting closer.

To my horror, it was Snape who replied, "The Restricted Section. Well, they can't be far, we'll catch them." I stood rooted to the spot as Filch and Snape came around the corner ahead. They couldn't see me as I blended in too well with my surroundings and stood so that the walls would block any light that shined on me until after they passed, but it was a narrow corridor and if they came much nearer they'd knock right into me.

I waited, holding my breath. I held my breath as they passed, praying I wouldn't be spotted. They walked straight past and straightened up as I heard heavy breathing as their footsteps died away. I followed the noise to what looked like an unused classroom. The dark shapes of desks and chairs were piled against the walls, and there was an upturned wastepaper basket, but wandering through the room was Harry Potter. I followed him in silently and noticed that, propped against the wall facing him was something that didn't look as if it belonged there, something that looked as if someone had just put it there to keep it out of the way.

It was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet. There was an inscription carved around the top: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi. I watched him for a minute as he approached the mirror, and then ducked behind the desk as he clapped a hand to his mouth and whirled around. He almost saw me.

I must have sat there for over an hour, watching him stare into the mirror, fascinated by whatever else he saw in it. I hid behind the desk when he finally left, and then approached it myself. Nothing was in Hogwarts for no reason, everything had a purpose. Now what was left was discovering this one.

I stared at my reflection for a minute, standing so close I could see my entire being in it, from my black hair to my bare pale feet. Suddenly, the image began to contort and change. My straight black hair became soft brown ringlets. My sharp green eyes became gentle brown ones. My beautiful, normal reflection waved at me delightfully, pleased with itself. Two people appeared over my shoulders. I didn't know either of them, but they smiled at me anyway. Pain filled my heart, and I turned away, tears filling my eyes. The image I had seen… I wanted it to be real so badly it hurt. I turned and fled from the room, and cried myself to sleep that night.

The next morning I'd slept in from exhaustion. When I came down to the Great Hall for breakfast, I overheard Weasley and Potter talking.

"You can come tonight," Harry was saying, "I'm going back, I want to show you the mirror."

"I'd like to see your mom and dad." Ron replied eagerly.

"And I want to see all your family, all the Weasleys; you'll be able to show me you're other brothers and everyone."

"You can see them any old time," said Ron. "Just come round my house this summer. Anyway, maybe it only shows dead people. Shame about not finding Flamel, though. Have some bacon or something, why aren't you eating anything."

I quickly scurried over to the Slytherin table as the post came in, Orion flying overhead. I sat down at the nearest seat and almost squealed my delight at the large bundles he and Brutus, who'd tagged along, were carrying. A note was attached.

_Dem,_

_Here are the papers. Master and Mrs. Elixir went to Paris for Christmas. Too many for Orion to carry by himself. Good luck!_

_Ivy_

I threw the two bundles underneath my seat and gave both Orion and Brutus a treat for their work, they then took off. I decided to wait until Draco came back from his holiday to search the old copies of the _Daily Prophet_, as it would go faster then. I had more important business to attend to in the meantime, like trying to figure out what was up with that weird mirror.

That night after everyone else had gone to bed, I snuck out again. I took a quill, ink well, and parchment with me this time, determined to figure out the meaning of the mirror. I took the same path I did before and waited. Finally, I heard Weasley complaining about his cold feet. I saw a door creak open as Harry's voice excitedly told Ron that it was in this room. Even with my good eyesight, I couldn't see either Potter or Weasley. I got my answer when I followed them in and watched them pull off an invisibility cloak.

"See." Harry whispered, the boys not noticing me.

"I can't see anything." Ron said, stepping closer to the mirror.

"Look! Look at them all… there are loads of them…"

"I can only see you."

"Look in it properly, go on, stand where I am." Harry stepped aside, and Ron stared transfixed at his image.

"Look at me!" He said.

"Can you see all your family standing around you?" Harry asked.

"No, I'm alone, but I'm different. I look older, and I'm head boy!"

"What."

"I am, I'm wearing the badge like Bill used to, and I'm holding the house cup and the Quidditch cup, I'm Quidditch captain, too." Ron tore his eyes away from this splendid sight to look excitedly at Harry. "Do you think this mirror shows the future?"

"How can it. All my family are dead, let me have another look-"

"You had it to yourself all last night; give me a bit more time."

"You're only holding the Quidditch cup, what's interesting about that. I want to see my parents."

"Potter?" I asked, finally deciding to interrupt as their voices were rising. "Weasley?" I pretended that I had just come through the door and hadn't been listening the entire time. "What are you doin' back here?" Harry narrowed his eyes.

"What do you mean 'back' here?"

"I followed you in here last night." I showed my quill, ink and parchment. "I decided to write down the inscription at the top of the mirror. I want to know what it's for." A sudden noise made us shut up.

"Quick!" Ron grabbed me and pulled me too close for comfort, and threw the invisibility cloak over the three of us. We stood behind the desk to cover the bottom of our feet, since the cloak wasn't quite long enough to cover us all completely. Mrs. Norris came around the door, and after an eternity, left.

"This isn't safe; she might have gone for Filch. I bet she heard us." I pushed the two of them towards the door.

"You two go. I want this inscription." I started on writing the words. Potter handed Weasley the cloak.

"Go stand guard," he turned to me, "We'll wait for you."

"We'll what?" Ron asked indignant.

"I'm not leaving her here to get caught by Filch. Go stand outside." I blocked out their words as I scribbled quickly. Erised stra ehru… "Hurry…" Harry whispered in my ear.

"Hurry, I can hear someone coming!" Ron whispered to us.

"I've almost…" oyt on wohsi, "Got it! Let's go." We joined Ron outside, and hid behind the suit of armor under the cloak. Filch came around the corner a minute later.

When he went inside the classroom, following Mrs. Norris, I nodded towards the way I came. The two boys nodded and we snuck down the corridor. My eyes penetrated the darkness, and I easily made my way back down to the entrance hall. The boys nodded their thanks, all of us too scared to speak, and I wrote on the back of my parchment that we'll discuss this in the morning. Harry nodded again, and I went back down to the Slytherin dorms.

The next morning, I found Weasley and Potter down in the Great Hall at lunch. Weasley was warning Harry not to go down to see the mirror again when I walked up.

"Speaking of which," I interrupted, and the two looked up at me in surprise as I sat across from them, "What did you two see? It'll help me figure out what it's for." Ron's face twisted into one of confusion.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because, Weasley, this is Hogwarts. Nothing is here for no reason, everything has a purpose, and I'm going to find out what this one's is. Now, what did you two see?" They shared a skeptical glance.

"Ron saw himself as Head Boy, Captain of the Quidditch team, holding both the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup." I turned to Weasley with a smirk.

"A bit ambitious, are we? Isn't that a little bit Slytherin?" He opened his mouth to retort, but Harry cut him off.

"And I saw my family." I turned to him, confused.

"Your family? The Muggles?" He shook his head. My eyes widened in realization, and I leaned in a bit closer. "You mean your parents?" My voice had dropped to a whisper.

"Not just them, but grandparents, aunts and uncles from my Dad's side of the family. They all looked like me." I pursed my lips, thinking hard. Harry's family, Ron's success, and my normality. Two had lost, the other stood to gain. What was the connection? "Have you made any progress on that inscription?" I shook my head.

"I'm going down to the library this afternoon to see if I can find anything." Ron chuckled.

"You may hate me for saying this, but you sound an awful lot like Hermione." I glared at him, but didn't answer.

"I'll see you two around. Let me know if you find anything out about the mirror." They nodded, and I returned to my table.

I spent the entire afternoon and parts of the evening researching significant magical objects, but it was difficult, seeing as I had no time period to work with. I didn't know if that mirror had been made in ancient times or just yesterday. The librarian finally had to kick me out when the library closed, and I snuck back into the classroom with mirror, awaiting Harry's arrival. I sat quietly behind the mirror, waiting for him to show. I thought I heard some rustling once, but shrugged it off. A while after, some shuffling, and then someone sat down in front of the mirror.

"So, back again, Harry." My blood froze in my veins. It was Dumbledore.

"I didn't see you, sir." Harry managed to say.

"Strange how nearsighted being invisible can make you." There was a small pause, and then the Headmaster raised his voice a little. "It's alright, Miss Elixir, you may come out now." I heard Harry's soft gasp as I crawled out from behind the mirror.

"How long have you been there?" Harry asked me. I wiped off bits of dust.

"A few hours. I was waiting for you, Harry. Thought we could figure out what this thing does, exactly." Dumbledore smiled as we turned to him. "Do you know, sir?"

"So, you two, like hundreds before you, have discovered the delights of the Mirror of Erised." I turned, looking up at the top of the mirror, and whispered the name to myself.

"I didn't know it was called that, sir."

"But I expect you've realized by now what it does."

"It, well, it shows me my family-"

"And it showed your friend Ron himself as head boy."

"How did you know-"

"I don't need a cloak to become invisible," said Dumbledore gently. He looked up at me, and I looked away. I don't know why, but I felt ashamed. "Now, can you think what the Mirror of Erised shows us all." Harry shook his head. "Let me explain. The happiest man on earth would be able to use the Mirror of Erised like a normal mirror, that is, he would look into it and see himself exactly as he is. Does that help." Harry thought, while I clicked together the pieces.

"It shows us what we want..." Harry said slowly, "whatever we want..."

"Yes and no," Dumbledore replied quietly. "It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts. You, who have never known your family, see them standing around you. Ronald Weasley, who has always been overshadowed by his brothers, sees himself standing alone, the best of all of them. However, this mirror will give us neither knowledge nor truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible. The Mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow, Harry and Demetra, and I ask you not to go looking for it again. If you ever do run across it, you will now be prepared. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that. Now, why don't you put that admirable cloak back on and get off to bed." Harry stood up.

"Sir, Professor Dumbledore. Can I ask you something?"

"Obviously, you've just done so," Dumbledore smiled. "You may ask me one more thing, however."

"What do you see when you look in the mirror."

"I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks." Harry and I both stared. "One can never have enough socks," said Dumbledore. "Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn't get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books." I smiled at the lie. Harry left for bed, and Dumbledore put a hand on my shoulder to hold me back when I went to leave. "Let's go for a walk." I nodded, knowing telling the Headmaster 'no' was not a wise decision. "Tell me," He started after we began heading down the corridors back to the Slytherin dorms, "What does the Mirror show you?" I looked away, my heart filling with the pain and shame of such an admission. "Ah. I think I understand."

"I was beautiful." I mumbled out quietly. "Not the harbinger of death that I am now. But, beautiful." He stopped me and knelt down next to me.

"Demetra, you are beautiful now. Yours is not the beauty of the rising sun on a warm summer morning, but of the high moon on a dead winter's night. It is fortunate that you look the way you do, for you are humbled by it, and will not as easily fall into the vanity many of your peers will." I nodded, tears streaking softly down my white cheeks. "Your path will never be easy. Your life will be filled with hardships I cannot yet begin to imagine. So it is with the way people such as you have been and always will be. You will never have the respect you deserve, your very presence will cast fear into the hearts of any who cross your path, deserved or not. But don't let this trouble you. It is their prejudice that makes them this way, it is not of your design." I nodded again. He stood up and took my hand. "Now, let's get you to bed." The rest of the way to the Slytherin dorms was silent. He gave me a piece of chocolate at the door. "Here, this will make you feel better." And then he bade me a goodnight.


	10. Nicolas and Norbert

Draco returned the day before the next term started. He was impressed that I'd managed to sneak out three nights in a row and not get caught, and then was even more impressed that I'd gotten those papers for us to search through. He was 'too tired' from the trip back to search through them the day we had off, but we agreed to try between classes.

For the first few weeks, we had no progress. Flamel wasn't in the _Daily Prophet_ at all in June. Draco, however, was very pleased when he found out that Snape would be referring the Hufflepuff vs. Gryffindor match coming up.

We decided to go get some pumpkin juice from the kitchens when we came across Neville. We'd been locked up in the library, having a rarely-visited corner all to ourselves as we searched through the papers, and were thirsty. Little did I know, when we had been looking through the books for Flamel, Draco had found a leg-locking curse. He immediately cast it on him, and even though I felt bad, I couldn't help but giggle at the sight of Neville having to hop everywhere.

Finally, when looking through the July papers, we struck gold.

"Demetra!"Draco suddenly called, excited as he gripped his paper. My head snapped up to attention. "Look! I found him! I found Flamel!" I came over and sat next to him. There was a picture of an old man standing and smiling happily with his decrepit wife, waving at us. "Mr. Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist and opera lover, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year, has decided it is time to move on with his life, writes Rita Skeeter, or maybe it should be said to move on beyond his life. The owner of the only known Sorcerer's Stone in the world is selling off all his assets and is quieting down to die in peace. The Stone itself will be given to Flamel's old friend, Professor Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, for safe-keeping." He stopped reading abruptly.

"What? Is there more?" He slowly shook his head.

"No, that's it. There's nothing else." I read over his shoulder, and sure enough, that's where the article ends.

I stood up and began pacing, thinking deeply. Draco wisely kept quiet, knowing that anything he would say would fall on deaf ears anyway. After a moment, I stopped pacing and stared at the shelves next to me, still in thought. I wandered down, my hands brushing against the now-familiar books, looking for one in particular. I reached up as though to grab one, but it was missing. I turned deftly and walked up to the librarian, inquiring after the book that was missing. She told me that Miss Granger had checked it out a few weeks ago. I asked if there were any more copies, and her reply was in the negative. I then asked if there were any other books on alchemy, and she pointed me in the right direction. I glanced through a couple, and then showed it to Draco once I'd found what I was looking for.

"The ancient study of alchemy," He read aloud, albeit softly so as to not disturb anyone else, "is concerned with making the Sorcerer's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal." I smirked as he looked up at me, his eyes wide. I snapped the book shut.

"That's it. That's everything. We figured it out." He grinned broadly at me, both of us feeling rather satisfied, having solved the riddle.

A few days later was the Hufflepuff vs. Gryffindor game that Snape was refereeing. I walked up and found a seat next to Draco, between him and Crabbe. Malfoy had just intentionally poked Ron in the back of the head.

"Oh, sorry Weasley didn't see you there." He was saying just as I sat down, and he gave me a quick grin. I rolled my eyes. "Wonder how long Potter's going to stay on his broom this time. Anyone want a bet. What about you, Weasley." I almost applauded Ron for not answering, but Snape had just awarded Hufflepuff a penalty because George Weasley had hit a Bludger at him. "You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team." Draco loudly started up again a few minutes later, as Snape awarded Hufflepuff another penalty for no reason at all. "It's people they feel sorry for. See, there's Potter, who's got no parents, then there's the Weasleys, who've got no money, you should be on the team, Longbottom, you've got no brains." Neville went bright red but turned in his seat to face Malfoy.

"I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy." He stammered. I never once looked in his direction, but I still grinned, secretly cheering him on as my three immature friends howled with laughter.

"You tell him, Neville." Ron told him, also not taking his eyes off the game.

"Longbottom, if brains were gold you'd be poorer than Weasley, and that's saying something." I almost slapped Draco for that one.

"I'm warning you, Malfoy, one more word-"

"Ron!" Hermione said suddenly, "Harry -"

"What, where?"

Harry had suddenly gone into a spectacular dive, which drew gasps and cheers from the crowd. Hermione and I stood up, her crossed fingers in her mouth, as Harry streaked toward the ground like a bullet.

"You're in luck, Weasley, Potter's obviously spotted some money on the ground!" Draco again.

Ron snapped. Before Malfoy knew what was happening, Ron was on top of him, wrestling him to the ground. Neville hesitated, and then clambered over the back of his seat to help. I hopped over Hermione's seat in front of me, my eyes never once leaving the streaking red figure headed towards the ground, and took Ron's now forsaken seat.

"Come on, Harry!" Hermione screamed, leaping onto her seat to watch as Harry sped straight at Snape. She didn't even notice Malfoy and Ron rolling around under our seats, or the scuffles and yelps coming from the whirl of fists that was Neville, Crabbe, and Goyle.

Up in the air, Snape turned on his broomstick just in time to see something scarlet shoot past him, missing him by inches. The next second, Harry had pulled out of the dive, his arm raised in triumph, the Snitch clasped in his hand.

The stands erupted, Hermione and I hugging each other in shock and elation. This just _had_ to be a record; the Snitch had never been caught so fast.

"Ron! Ron! Where are you? The game's over! Harry's won! We've won! Gryffindor is in the lead!" Hermione was shrieking as we hugged and danced. I wasn't thrilled that this had just put Gryffindor in the lead in the House Championship, but I was happy for Harry and happy that Hufflepuff had lost.

As all the Gryffindor's starting spilling out onto the pitch, Hermione, still holding my head in a vice grip, pulled me down there to congratulate Harry, too. Potter, however, was a bit in the distance, having been lifted up by Oliver Wood, their Quidditch Captain, and a few other sixth years onto their shoulders. Granger and I jumped up and down in excitement, and Ron cheered through a heavy nose bleed. It took Harry a while to get them to leave him alone so he could shower, and it was sometime before he returned to find Hermione, Ron and I waiting for him. I had wanted to congratulate him in person, so I figured hanging around his two best friends would be the easiest way to find him.

"Harry, where have you been?" Hermione squeaked when Harry finally approached.

"We won! You won! We won!" Ron shouted, thumping on Harry's shoulder. "And I gave Malfoy a black eye, and Neville tried to take on Crabbe and Goyle single-handed! He's still out cold but Madam Pomfrey says he'll be all right, talk about showing Slytherin!" I laughed.

"You certainly did! Draco's going to complain about this for weeks!" They gave me a weird look, "What? Just because Malfoy's my only friend doesn't mean I don't think he doesn't need to be popped on the head every once in a while. And tell Neville I said he did a great job, standing up to Crabbe and Goyle like that. His place in Gryffindor is well-earned." Hermione still had a distrustful look on her face, but Ron and Harry nodded.

"Everyone's waiting for you in the common room, we're having a party, Fred and George stole some cakes and stuff from the kitchens." Weasley told Potter.

"Well, I think that's my cue to leave." I shook Harry's hand, "You did well, Potter. Congratulations on the win today. I'll see you lot at breakfast." As I walked away, I heard Harry's voice drop to a whisper.

"Let's find an empty room; you wait 'til you hear this..." I couldn't help it; my curiosity got the better of me. I got around the corner, and then waited for them to clamber into a room. Even though Potter shut the door behind them, I could still hear their words when I pressed my ear to the door.

"So we were right, it is the Sorcerer's Stone, and Snape's trying to force Quirrell to help him get it. He asked if he knew how to get past Fluffy - and he said something about Quirrell's 'hocus pocus'. I reckon there are other things guarding the stone apart from Fluffy, loads of enchantments, probably, and Quirrell would have done some anti-Dark Arts spell that Snape needs to break through-"

"So you mean the Stone's only safe as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape." Hermione said in alarm.

"It'll be gone by next Tuesday." I scurried away.

"What would Snape want with the Sorcerer's Stone?" Draco asked me after I'd told him about what I'd overheard. We were sitting in the empty Slytherin common room, as everyone else was at class. I shook my head.

"Draco, you _do_ know that Snape used to be a Death Eater, right?"

"Yeah, but he's changed."

"I know that, and you know that, and Dumbledore knows that, but what reason has he given Potter to trust him? None. Besides, how else would you explain the confrontation that Potter overheard?" He thought for a minute, and then gave me a weird look.

"You don't think…" I nodded slowly. "Quirrell? Stuttering little Quirrell? He's so…"

"Innocent? Exactly. Open your eyes, Draco. No teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts ought to be that innocent or that nervous all the time. I'd be willing to bet it's all an act. Don't tell me you bought that story about him getting the turban from some Egyptian prince or whatever, not when he couldn't tell us how he got rid of the zombie." He scratched the back of his head. "I know it's a bit hard to swallow. All I know is that I'm not going to trust anyone outside of this room and Dumbledore anymore." He rolled his eyes when I said our Headmaster's name, but I ignored it. I stood up, and threw my bag over my shoulder. "I need to go to class; I'll see you later, Draco."

The next few weeks were quiet. I noticed that Granger was always listening to the corridor that Fluffy was in, probably to make sure he was still there, and that Weasley had started telling people off for making fun of Quirrell's stutter. Snape was his same old angry self. Even though exams were ten weeks away, I'd started studying for them. Crabbe and Goyle made fun of me for it, but I didn't care. I wanted to pass.

It helped my argument that the teachers all started piling on tons of homework around Easter. Malfoy complained more than once about it, but still managed to get it all done, getting A's and B's. Although I was having a harder time than usual keeping up with the homework and studying for exams at the same time, I was still managing and getting my A's.

Draco, however, managed to spice up our lives again when he came rushing over to me during breakfast one morning.

"Dem!" He called, having taken to calling me by my childhood nickname, and sat down next to me excitedly. "Guess what I just overheard Weasley telling Granger!" I waited, knowing he was going to tell me anyway, "He said that someone's got a dragon hatching. And then guess what Granger said in reply? It's HAGRID! That buffoon!" He crowed, elated that he had something on the 'lesser being'. I rolled my eyes and didn't respond.

Later that day, Draco, again, came running for me, even more excited than the first time. He told me all about how he'd snuck over to Hagrid's hut and watched the egg hatch. I chuckled, wondering what in the world Hagrid would want with a baby dragon.

The next Thursday, Ron was walking around with a swollen hand and had to go to the hospital wing to get it looked at. Malfoy went to go see him that day, and apparently made fun of him. He tossed the book that he'd 'borrowed' from Weasley, and I found a letter for his brother in it, which I showed him. He asked if I wanted to go with him to catch them, but I refused, saying I was too tired from all this studying I was doing and needed the rest.

I had to laugh when I got up on Sunday morning and saw 150 points detracted from Gryffindor and 20 points from Slytherin, and then laughed even harder when I found out that Granger, Potter, Longbottom, _and_ Malfoy all had detention for being up at 1am.


	11. Forests, Trapdoors, & Men with Two Faces

I stayed up the night that Draco had to serve out his detention. The Forbidden Forest with Potter, Granger, Hagrid, and Fang, Hagrid's dog (if you could call that beast a dog). He came back almost as white as me, but glared once he saw me sitting by the fire.

"Oh, too tired to go get in trouble with me, but not too tired to stay up and laugh at me when I get back from detention?" I shrugged.

"Who's laughing?" He rolled his eyes, and then sat next to me by the fire I had kept going. "How'd it go?" He shuddered.

"Potter thinks that we ran into You-Know-Who." My eyes widened considerably, and he told me in hushed tones everything that happened. When everyone else was around, he was terrible about exaggerating the details. I could tell, though, that he was still much too freaked out about the night's events to even think about exaggerating. By the end of his tale, I'd leaned back in my chair, a hand over my mouth, rubbing it thoughtfully.

"You know what that means, right?" He shook his head. "Quirrell. I bet he's going to steal the Sorcerer's Stone and give it to Voldemort." He paled again at the name. "With the Elixir of Life, Voldemort will be able to return to power, and live forever. And Potter and Granger will blame it all on Snape, clearing Quirrell's good name." I gripped the arm rests on my chair, bristling with anger. "There must be a way to clear Professor Snape. There simply must be." Draco was quiet, and the finally shook his head, neither of us able to come up with anything to help us.

Exams came and passed on, almost too quietly, as I was more than prepared. The AntiCheating spells cast on our fancy new quills stopped the cheating that Crabbe and Goyle had planned to use to pass all their exams, yet they still somehow managed to get through them.

The practical exams weren't as easy as the written ones, as it's easy to write something down. It's hard to actually put it into practice. Flitwick's class wasn't that hard, as it was simple to make the pineapples tap dance. McGonagall's, however, was very difficult. We had to figure out how to turn a mouse into a snuffbox, with pretty designs giving us bonus points, but whiskers and tails detracting points. Mine came out with an intricate Slytherin design on it, while Draco's was just a plain green and silver. Professor Snape made everyone, even Draco and I, nervous. Breathing down our necks while we tried to remember the recipe for a Forgetfulness Potion. I eventually remembered the ingredients and whispered it to Malfoy, who sat next to me, when Snape went to go pick on Parkinson across the room. He thanked me with a silent nod, and then set to work. Both of us passed with flying colors.

The night passed in less silence that I thought.

When we all got up the next morning, rumors were already flying around the castle. Harry Potter, Professor Quirrell, the Sorcerer's Stone, Voldemort (or You-Know-Who), and more. I had to chuckle, pleased that Harry had succeeded. I went and found Potter in his room after a sniffling Hagrid shuffled out. I walked up as he stared down at a photo album in silence. He didn't notice me until I spoke up.

"Ello Potter." His eyes snapped up to me, and he immediately shut the book.

"What do you want, Elixir?" Things were back to normal, then. I pulled out a newspaper that I'd concealed in a book I'd brought in with me, and plopped it down in his lap. It was the one that had the article about Nicolas Flamel in it.

"Next time Hagrid pulls you, Granger, and Weasley away for a private conversation, try not to speak so loudly. Oh, and don't let Malfoy get away when he catches Hagrid hatching a dragon egg. Took me until a bit after Christmas to put all the pieces together, but I figured it out in the end. I would've gone down there with you, but there must have been something that convinced you that Snape, or as I suspected, Quirrell would be stealing the Stone last night. What detail did you catch that I missed?" Harry leaned back against the pillows.

"You knew? You were figuring it all out too?" I nodded, and he smiled a bit. "Hagrid said that the stranger that he'd won the dragon egg off of was interested in Fluffy, and then told him how to put him to sleep. When I went to go Dumbledore that Hagrid had told Voldemort that, I found out from Professor McGonagall that he'd already left, the Ministry of Magic had written him saying there was some urgent business to attend to. I knew then." I nodded again, said to get well soon, and then left.

That night, the Great Hall was completely decked out in Slytherin colors. It was actually rather impressive. There was usually a banner over every table that showed that House's colors and crest, but tonight, all of them were Slytherin banners. One massive flag was hung behind the High Table had the Slytherin snake on it. When Potter walked in, of course, there was a sudden hush over the room, and everyone craned to get a look at him. He ignored most of it, though, sitting between Granger and Weasley. There was a small clamor, but when Dumbledore arrived, it all quieted back down again.

"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were. You have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts. Now, as I understand it, the house cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy- two." A storm of cheering and stamping broke out from our table. Draco and I were banging our goblets on the table. "Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin." Dumbledore continued, "However, recent events must be taken into account." The room went very still. The Slytherins' smiles faded a little. "Ahem, I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes… First, to Mr. Ronald Weasley..." I glanced over at the Gryffindor, knowing exactly what was coming as Ron went purple in the face. "...for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house fifty points." Gryffindor cheers nearly raised the bewitched ceiling; the stars overhead seemed to quiver. "Second, to Miss Hermione Granger, for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points." Hermione buried her face in her arms. "Third, to Mr. Harry Potter..." The room went deadly quiet, "for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house sixty points."

The din was deafening. Those who could add up while yelling themselves hoarse knew that Gryffindor now had four hundred and seventy-two points - exactly the same as Slytherin. They had tied for the house cup. If Dumbledore had given Harry just one more point. The Headmaster raised his hand, and the room gradually fell silent.

"There are all kinds of courage," said Dumbledore, smiling. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom."

I could see Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood up to yell and cheer as Neville, white with shock, disappeared under a pile of people hugging him. He had never won a point for Gryffindor before. Malfoy, who couldn't have looked more stunned and horrified if he'd just had the Body-Bind Curse put on him, and I smirked a bit at his expression.

"Which means," Dumbledore called over the storm of applause, for even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were celebrating the downfall of Slytherin, "we need a little change of decoration." He clapped his hands.

In an instant, the green hangings became scarlet and the silver became gold; the huge Slytherin serpent vanished and a towering Gryffindor lion took its place. Snape was shaking Professor McGonagall's hand, with a horrible, forced smile. I congratulated Neville later in secret, not wanting to be overheard.

And the next morning, our wardrobes were empty and our trunks were packed. Notes were handed out to all students, warning us not to use magic over the holidays; Hagrid was there to take us down to the fleet of boats that sailed across the lake; we were boarding the Hogwarts Express; talking and laughing as the countryside became greener and tidier; eating Bettie Bott's Every Flavor Beans as they sped past Muggle towns; pulling off our wizard robes and putting on jackets and coats; pulling into platform nine and three-quarters at King's Cross Station.

It took a while for everyone to get off the platform. A wizened old guard was up by the ticket barrier, letting us go through the gate in twos and threes so we didn't attract attention by all bursting out of a solid wall at once and alarming the Muggles. Draco and I were among the first, and we spotted the Malfoy's first, as Mr. Malfoy's hair was rather noticeable. They greeted me cordially as we approached, and Mrs. Malfoy gave Draco a hug.

"Well, Draco, looks like this is goodbye." I said as he turned back around to look at me. He nodded.

"Yeah." A pause, "Does it have to be all summer before I get to see you again? Life will be so boring." I laughed.

"I'll see if I can't talk Mother into letting you come spend a week at our home or something." He grinned, we shook hands, and then he and Mrs. Malfoy left to go Disapparate somewhere private. Mr. Malfoy stayed with me until my parents showed up. I watched Harry Potter go home with his Muggle family, and pitied him. Finally, Mother arrived, thanked Mr. Malfoy for staying with me, and we Apparated home.


	12. Chamber of Secrets  Chapter 1

CHAMBER OF SECRETS.

I rolled out of bed, unceremoniously falling face-first onto the floor. My head immediately shot up, the carpet feeling unfamiliar. A house elf came running in to check on me, but I immediately dismissed him, claiming I was fine. My face hurt, aside from that I was fine.

I looked up, and remembered where I was. Malfoy Manor. Seeing as the mansion they owned had so many rooms, they actually just _gave_ me one. Mrs. Malfoy taught me some spells to decorate my room, and they let me chose any of the furniture out of any of the other guest bedrooms to be moved to my room. It looked nice, all of the same colors through the rest of the mansion, since I didn't want it to clash because I won't be here very often.

A soft knocking made me get up.

"Dem?" Draco asked, slowly opening the door, and I beckoned him in. "What was that noise?"

"Oh, nothing… fell on my face, that's all." He laughed.

"Breakfast is about to be served if you want to come down." Noticing that he was still in his pajamas as well, I felt comfortable going down in my nightgown.

Breakfast was quiet; it was only after we got finished that two owls came flying in the window. Two letters were dropped right in front of Draco and I, and the two swiveled out.

"Hm, so, Dumbledore knows you're here. Interesting." Was all that Mr. Malfoy as we realized they were the Hogwarts letter and one was addressed to me. I chuckled.

"Nothing gets past that batty old codger." Draco shot me a fast smile, and we quickly opened the letters. They said to catch the train at King's Cross Station on September 1st as usual, along with the new books we'd have to bring on top of our old ones.

_SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS WILL REQUIRE:_

_The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk_

_Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart_

_Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart_

_Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart 4"3_

_Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart_

_Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart_

_Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart_

_Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart_

"Merlin's beard!" Draco cried, "Whoever this new teacher is, he's a big fan of Gilderoy Lockhart!" I laughed.

"More like she is a big fan of Gilderoy Lockhart." He looked at me, horror-struck.

"You don't think our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is a woman, do you?"

"And what, pray tell, is so wrong about a woman teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts?" I asked, offended, but keeping my cool. I turned in my chair and crossed my legs to look at him straight on.

"You're in trouble now, Draco." Mrs. Malfoy mumbled under her breath, hiding her smile behind a book. Mr. Malfoy grinned openly, waiting to see how Draco would get out of this one.

"Uh, nothing!" He backtracked, realizing I must be mad about his comment, "It's just that, um, some of the boys in the upper years might find her attractive, that's all." He covered.

"Mmm." Is all I said as I turned in my chair back to the table and uncrossed my legs. "Good cover."

"Thanks."

The following Wednesday, I was still staying at Malfoy Manor, and Lucius decided to take Draco and I down to Diagon Alley to get our new supplies. Before we left, I was writing my parents a letter asking for some money for the books, but Mrs. Malfoy saw me. She insisted that they pay for my books, saying that it wouldn't be any trouble. Having no argument against this, I dropped the matter.

The Malfoy men and I stepped into a store on Knockturn Alley. I'd been down here once before with Mother, but it'd been a while. My childish mind had seriously exaggerated some of the things I saw back then… but then again, this place was pretty creepy.

"Touch nothing, you two." Mr. Malfoy told us as we entered the store.

"I thought you were going to buy me a present." Draco asked while pulling his hand away from the glass eye he had just reached for.

"I said I would buy you each a racing broom." He replied, drumming his fingers on the counter.

"What's the good of that if I'm not on the House team?" Draco asked , looking sulky and bad-tempered as a large black cabinet caught my eye. "Harry Potter got a Nimbus Two Thousand last year. Special permission from Dumbledore so he could play for Gryffindor. He's not even that good, it's just because he's famous… famous for having a stupid scar on his forehead…" It wasn't the first time Draco had gone on about this. Actually, I probably had six letters at home from him complaining about Potter. "… everyone thinks he's so smart, wonderful Potter with his scar and his broomstick-"

"You have told me this at least a dozen times already." Mr. Malfoy replied with a quelling look directed at Draco. I opened the door to the cabinet to see, of course, Harry Potter inside. I smiled, winked, and then put the door back to where it was. "And I would remind you that it is not - prudent - to appear less than fond of Harry Potter, not when most of our kind regard him as the hero who made the Dark Lord disappear - ah, Mr. Borgin." Soon as he was distracted, I opened the door again and slid inside with Harry. He moved a bit to make some room.

"Harry," I whispered, "What are you doing here?"

"Floo powder, got lost." He told me quickly.

"Ah," I said understandingly. "Don't feel bad, everyone's done it at least once. Who are you here with?"

"Weasleys." I nodded, and then handed him my wand.

"Hang on to this; I'll be back for it." Draco approached the cabinet then, looking for me. I waited until he was close enough, and then jumped out, scaring him. I laughed at his expression, and then shut the door to the cabinet behind me, hiding Harry.

"I have not been visited yet. The name Malfoy still commands a certain respect, yet the Ministry grows ever more meddlesome. There are rumors about a new Muggle Protection Act, no doubt that flea- bitten, Muggle-loving fool Arthur Weasley is behind it." Mr. Malfoy was saying as I pointed to some obscure thing by the door, drawing Draco away from Potter. "…and as you see, certain of these poisons might make it appear…"

"I understand, sir, of course." Mr. Borgin replied. "Let me see…"

"Can I have that?" Draco interrupted, pointing at a withered hand on its cushion.

"Ah, the Hand of Glory!" Mr. Borgin, abandoning Mr. Malfoy's list, scurried over to us. "Insert a candle and it gives light only to the holder! Best friend of thieves and plunderers! Your son has fine taste, sir."

"I hope my son will amount to more than a thief or a plunderer, Borgin." Mr. Malfoy said coldly.

"No offense, sir, no offense meant -"

"Though if his grades don't pick up," Lucius continued, even more cold than before, "that may indeed be all he is fit for -"

"It's not my fault," retorted Draco, "The teachers all have favorites, that Hermione Granger -"

"I would have thought you'd be ashamed that a girl of no wizard family beat you in every exam." His father snapped.

"She wasn't the only one." I said in a sing-song voice, skipping away from Draco, pointing out that I had also beaten him in the exams. He immediately looked abashed and angry. "Difference being that I'm of wizard blood."

"It's the same all over," Mr. Borgin, in his oily voice replied, "Wizard blood is counting for less everywhere -"

"Not with me," Mr. Malfoy snapped again, his long nostrils flaring. I, unfortunately, had gotten into looking at a black crystal ball, and didn't notice that Draco had wandered back over to the cabinet where Harry was. "Done!" Lucius crowed suddenly, "Come, Draco, Demetra." He called, and we immediately stopped what we were doing and followed him out, just as we had been taught all our lives to do. "Good day to you, Mr. Borgin. I'll expect you at the manor tomorrow to pick up the goods." As we made our way down the street, I 'realized' something.

"Oh, drat!" They both stopped and turned to look at me.

"What is it, Dem?" Draco asked me. In a moment of superior acting, I looked exasperated.

"I keep forgetting that one of the elves back home tore open the bottom of the pocket where I usually keep my wand, and my wand's disappeared. Again." Mr. Malfoy rolled his eyes.

"Where did you have it last?" I thought.

"Back at the store. You two go on ahead without me, I'll meet you in Flourish and Blotts. I know my way there." Without giving them a chance to respond, I turned and fled back down to the store. Just as I got to the door, Harry came out. "Hey Potter, still got my wand?" He nodded and handed it back to me. "Thanks." I looked back up the road to watch Mr. Malfoy and Draco turn out of sight. "Now come on, I know my way out of here." I told him, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him back towards Diagon Alley.

"Harry?" A voice boomed over the noise of the crowd a moment later. "What d'yeh think yer doin' down there?"

"Hagrid!" Harry croaked in relief. "I was lost – Floo Powder –" Hagrid grabbed us both at the nape of the neck right then, hoisted us up over the crowd, and carried us back to Diagon Alley.

"Yer a mess!" Hagrid said gruffly as he brushed the soot off the younger boy. I hung back, a bit awkwardly. "Skulkin' around Knockturn Alley, I dunno dodgy place, Harry. Don' want no one ter see yeh down there-"

"I realized that," Harry said, ducking as Hagrid made to brush him off again. "I told you, I was lost. What were you doing down there, anyway?"

"I was lookin' fer a Flesh-Eatin' Slug Repellent," growled Hagrid, "They're ruinin' the school cabbages. Yer not on yer own."

"I'm staying with the Weasleys but we got separated." Harry explained.

"I'm staying with the Malfoys." I volunteered, rejoining the conversation. "Well, I didn't quite get you back to the Weasleys, but I'm sure Hagrid can take it from here. If you two will excuse me." I hurried away.

I headed for Flourish and Blotts, but was so absorbed in my thoughts that I collided head-first with someone. The cauldron in his hands and my wand which I had yet to put away went flying. I landed on my elbow, and pain went searing up and down my arm. I could tell it broke when I hit the ground, but I refused to let it show on my face. I could heal it myself later. My hip hit the ground hard too, and I figured it was probably bruising already. I slowly stood.

"Oh, Merlin's beard! I'm so sorry, love." A voice from over me said, and a hand reached down and grabbed my non-hurting arm. I hissed as he tried to pull me up. "Sorry, where does it hurt, beautiful?" I glared at him for calling me that which I hated most, and then stood up a bit shakily on my own.

"Call me beautiful again and there…" I trailed off for a half a second, when it struck me how incredibly gorgeous he is. I quickly recovered, "won't be enough left of you to talk." He smirked at me in a way that stole my breath.

"Mmm, somehow, I doubt that." I tried not to stare at him as he bent over and picked up my wand. "Here, I think you dropped this." I snatched it away, and then mumbled thanks. I glanced into his face, and noticed how green his eyes were… almost as green as mine. "So, where are you headed?"

"Flourish and Blotts." He chuckled.

"Off to pick up the complete collection of Gilderoy Lockhart's books?" I glared again.

"And the next book of spells." I said with indignation. He held up his hands in surrender, and then picked up his cauldron.

"Mind if I walk you? I'm headed there myself." A part of me screamed to say 'no', and just walk away, but a more logical side of me said he'd probably just follow me anyway. The part of me that was entranced by his looks (that I was desperately trying to still) said to tell him yes. Logic won out.

"Whatever, just stay out of my way." I tried to say like I honestly didn't care what he did. Merlin's sake, I didn't even know his na-

"My name's Blake Belcher." He seemed to study my face for a second, which I carefully hid behind my hair.

"You must be Demetra Elixir. I've heard of your legendary good looks, and for once, the gossips were right." I couldn't help but to roll my eyes. The name 'Belcher' rang a few bells, like I'd heard the name before, but I couldn't place it. Mentally shrugging my shoulders, I decided to worry about it later.

We went straight to the book store, and I was a bit surprised to see we weren't the only ones there. There was a massive crowd all jostling in and out, mostly in. The reason being proclaimed on a huge banner that stretched across the upper windows: GILDEROY LOCKHART will be signing copies of his autobiography, MAGICAL ME today 12:30pm to 4:30pm. I laughed once I took a closer look at the crowd waiting to see Mr. Lockhart, and realized they were all women around Mrs. Weasley's age. There was a rather harassed-looking wizard standing outside the door, urging the women to stay calm and wait their turns. I said goodbye to Blake, who told me he'd see me at school. I stared after him, but he disappeared into the crowd. I shrugged, then pushed my way inside, grabbed two copies of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2, and stole away upstairs.

I didn't have to wait very long. An almost-white blonde haired boy around my age came in, looking sulky and angry at the same time in a way only he can. I called to him, and he immediately came trouncing upstairs once he realized where I was. I handed him one of the books as he complained, taking my mind off of Blake, and the mild pain I was still in.

"I cannot believe how many people are here, this place is packed! And look, there's Mrs. Weasley." He sneered down at the crowd, and I recognized the red haired woman. "What is about this guy that's so wonderful, anyway?" I made a gagging noise.

"I've read almost every book in existence about vampires, including his. He romanticizes everything. It's like reading that Muggle series about sparkly vampires. Completely fake, but somehow enchanting to the female reader." He looked at me curiously.

"You think he's fake?" I shrugged.

"I have absolutely no proof. It's just a feeling." He smirked, and looked away from me and back down at the crowd.

"Your feelings are probably better proof than most people's educated guess." I blushed, and buried my nose in the new Spells book.

We made some small talk for the next hour or so. He stood, watching the crowd, and I gingerly sat down on the ground, reading my book. It was the quietest we'd probably ever been around each other for a long time. The last time was around this time last year, at that dinner party, when we really first met. A random thought crossed my mind just then, and I started laughing.

"I doubt that our new spell books are comical." Draco drawled, and I set the book down.

"No, no, they're not, it's just something I remembered that I did when I was really little. Being in here reminded me of it." He raised an eyebrow and then sat down next to me.

"Do tell." I reigned in my giggles.

"Well, when I was very, very small, I was at a Muggle library-"I caught his expression, "Don't ask, I don't remember why. Anyway, so here I was at this Muggle library and I want a book on spells. So, I walked right up to the librarian and asked her if she had any books on magic spells." I laughed again. "The look on her face was worth a thousand of Neville Longbottom being lectured by Professor Snape, it was so funny. We ended up having to get the Ministry involved to do some memory charms and all that, and usually my parents would have been fined over something like that, but the Head of the Ministry thought it was so funny he let it slide. The whole story ended up in the Daily Prophet." He chuckled. "My parents cut the article out and kept it. I'm not sure where it is now, but we've got it somewhere in the house. I'll have to show you sometime." He nodded, glanced over his shoulder.

"Look who's just walked in." I looked down to see Potter, Weasley, and Granger slip past the crowd. We watched the whole thing involving Lockhart and Potter from the stairs, disgusted. After it, he made his way to the youngest Weasley, who happened to be standing near us.

"Here, you can have these, I'll buy my own." He was saying as we came down the stairs.

"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter." Draco sneered out. "Famous Harry Potter," he continued, "can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page."

"Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!" The girl next to him said, glaring at us.

"Look Demetra," He started without looking at me, "Potter's got himself a girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend." Harry stated just as Weasley and Granger walked up.

"And if she was, she's prettier than yours, Malfoy." Hermione said snobbishly. I glared in return, daring her to say it again as I drew my wand.

"Bet you're surprised to see Harry here, eh?" Ron asked.

"Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley." Draco retorted. "I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for all those." Ron went as red as Ginny. I couldn't help but to giggle a bit, and flicked my hair back over my shoulder. He dropped his books into the cauldron, too, and started toward Malfoy, but Harry and Hermione grabbed the back of his jacket. Mr. Weasley called out to his son from behind the dense crowd, the twins struggling beside him to get through.

"What are you doing?" He asked, "It's too crowded in here, let's go outside."

"Well, well, well, Arthur Weasley." It was Mr. Malfoy. He came over and stood between and behind Draco and me, one hand on our outside shoulders. He sneered in just the same way Draco does, and I smirked at them.

"Lucius." Mr. Weasley responded with a single, cold nod of his head in a way that reminded me a bit of Mother.

"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," the elder Malfoy continued, "All those raids ... I hope they're paying you overtime." He reached into the Weasley girl's cauldron and extracted, from amid the glossy Lockhart books, a very old, very battered copy of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration. "Obviously not," Mr. Malfoy said. "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it." Mr. Weasley flushed darker than either Ron or Ginny as I offered to take the book off Mr. Malfoy's hands, which he gave to me.

"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy." Arthur responded.

"Clearly." Those cold steel-blue eyes strayed to whom I could only assume to be Mr. and Mrs. Granger, who were watching the scene with apprehension. "The company you keep, Weasley… and I thought your family could sink no lower-"

There was a thud of metal as Ginny's cauldron went flying before I felt myself being shoved aside and my back making impact with the bookshelf behind me. I bit my tongue to stop myself from crying out when one came down and collided with my shoulder on the same arm as my broken elbow, making me lose my balance and fall down. When I had regained my wits and my balance, I looked up to see Mr. Weasley taking on Mr. Malfoy. Everyone was shouting and it was hard to hear anything. I looked up to see Draco looking at me, petrified with fear. I shook my head, trying to clear the dense fog of agony, when louder than everything else came the dense, booming voice of Hagrid.

"Break it up, there, gents, break it up." He waded almost gracefully through the crowd, reached beneath the mass of books that had fallen on top of Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Weasley, and pulled them out straightaway. Arthur had a cut on his lip and Lucius was sporting what would become a black eye. He looked at me, and I immediately handed the small girl her book back.

"Take your book; it's the best your father can give you." He pulled himself from Hagrid's grip, beckoned to Draco and me, and swept out of the shop. I stayed for just half a heartbeat more, staring into the girl's still semi-frightened eyes.

"I think old books have more character than new ones." I looked over at Potter. "See you at Hogwarts." And then followed my friend and his father out of the shop.

* * *

><p><strong>... And so it begins. Haha. Welcome back to Hogwarts, everyone! Hope you had a wonderful ChristmasNew Years! I know I did! =D**

**As always, reviews are much appreciated!**

**Post Script:**

**Just as a note, from this point forward, I hope to be doing a lot more character development and interaction with other characters in the story. I felt Sorcerer's Stone was very rushed, as I was literally just writing about the story, and not about the day-to-day life of a Hogwarts student. I pray that Chamber of Secrets won't be the same. Thank you.**


	13. Chamber of Secrets Chapter 2

I spent the rest of the month with the Malfoys, who, for some reason, didn't mind.

I honestly could not figure them out. If I had decided to stay with Crabbe or Goyle for a couple of days, that would have been okay, but three weeks? They would have sent me home already. It was abnormal for someone to stay at your home for that long. But, for some reason, not only was I allowed to stay, but it was almost… encouraged. In fact, me spending time with Draco was just all around encouraged. By everyone. It was very, very strange.

Anyway.

The house elves had been more than happy to heal my elbow, while the bruises on my shoulder and hip would have to heal on their own. They said it would take anywhere from a month to three months.

The trip to the train was silent. The trip on the train was pretty quiet, too. Except for Granger running up and down the halls looking for her boyfri-I mean Weasley and Potter. Draco gave me the biggest smirk yet when he heard they were missing. We got off the train, grateful that it wasn't raining, and got whisked off to the castle in these cool carriages that had skeletal horses pulling them.

The Sorting ceremony's brightest moment was when I finally learned the youngest Weasley's name, Ginny. Aside from that, I tuned the whole thing out. I glanced up at the Professor's once to notice that Snape was missing. A while later, he entered, briskly went up to Professor McGonagall, whispered something to her, and then the two of them left together.

Finally, we had word of Potter. A rumor floated around saying that he and Weasley'd been expelled by crashing a flying car. This made Draco positively howl with laughter. He was disappointed when we woke up the next morning to see the two at breakfast. I told him just to ignore them, they weren't worth his time. It was, however, when the mail came that Draco got a special treat from Mrs. Weasley (Mother only sent me my copy of _Voyages with Vampires_, since I'd left it at home and didn't see the point in owning two).

"- E CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE -" Mrs. Weasleys yelled, a hundred times louder than usual, made the plates and spoons rattle on the table, and echoed deafeningly off the stone walls. People throughout the hall were swiveling around to see who had received the Howler, and Ron sank so low in his chair that only his crimson forehead could be seen. "- LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU AND HARRY COULD BOTH HAVE DIED -" Harry was looking as though he couldn't hear a word of what was being said next to him, "-ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED - YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME." A ringing silence fell. The red envelope, which had dropped from Ron's hand, burst into flames and curled into ashes. I clamped a hand over my mouth to stop myself from laughing, whereas Draco openly pointed and laughed.

Soon as he finished, though, Snape approached our table with our course schedules, and Draco and I bounded off for Transfiguration with McGonagall. I was the only one, of course, in class that managed to remember how to turn a beetle into a button. Everyone else had forgotten everything they'd learned over the summer.

After that was History of Magic with Professor Binns and Charms with Professor Flitwick. History of Magic went as boring as ever, Binns just droning on about the giant wars while the class politely tuned him out. I say 'politely' because, well, we _were_ Slytherins, and we could have been cruel about the whole thing. However, we decided to be good, and did nothing. Between the classes, Draco showed me a letter from his father, saying he'd be willing to buy the entire Slytherin team Nimbus 2001's if Draco and I wanted to try out for the team. I said I would, and he said he'd write his father back soon as we went to lunch. Flitwick wasn't so lucky, as we sent the pillows he had us levitate (just some review from the year before) follow him around for most of the class. I heard him, more than once, mumble curses at all Slytherins for not being as well behaved as the other houses, but chose to ignore it.

We went to lunch after, the girls gossiping about what Professor Lockhart's first lesson would be like, all flattering themselves with being deemed his favorite student by the end of class. Draco and I made gagging noises to each other. He noticed the Golden Trio leaving just as his family owl took off, clutching the letter meant for Mr. Malfoy, and asked if I wanted to follow them. I said I would if I could finish my soup first, so he sat and waited not-so-patiently for me to finish… so, of course, I made sure to take my time.

When we finally left, Crabbe and Goyle had finished gorging themselves, so they got up and followed us out like they did everywhere else. We walked out just as a mouse-looking boy was asking Potter for a signed photo.

"Signed photos. You're giving out signed photos, Potter." Loud and scathing, Draco's voice echoed around the courtyard. We stopped right behind the younger boy.

"Everyone line up! Harry Potter's giving out signed photos!" I shouted as though it were the greatest thing in the world.

"No, I'm not." Harry said angrily, his fists clenching. "Shut up."

"You're just jealous." The mouse said; his entire body was about as thick as Crabbe's neck.

"Jealous?" Draco asked, who didn't need to shout anymore: half the courtyard was listening in. "Of what? I don't want a foul scar right across my head, thanks. I don't think getting your head cut open makes you that special, myself." Crabbe and Goyle were sniggering stupidly.

"Or losing your parents, for that matter." I quipped.

"Eat slugs, Malfoy." Ron said, now angry as well. Crabbe stopped laughing and started rubbing his knuckles in a menacing way.

"Be careful, Weasley." I sneered.

"You don't want to start any trouble or your Mommy'll have to come and take you away from school." Draco finished, and then put on a shrill, piercing voice. "If you put another toe out of line' - " A knot of Slytherin fifth-years nearby laughed loudly at this. "Weasley would like a signed photo, Potter," Malfoy smirked, "It'd be worth more than his family's whole house-" I laughed as Ron whipped out his Spellotaped wand, but Granger, who had gone largely unnoticed the whole time, shut _Voyages with Vampires_ with a snap.

"Look out!" She whispered, and we all realized at that second that Professor Lockhart had just walked up.

"What's all this, what's all this." Gilderoy Lockhart was striding toward us, his turquoise robes swirling behind him. I nudged Draco with my arm, and then nodded towards a hole the Slytherins were making for us as a means of escape. "Who's giving out signed photos?" Harry started to speak but he was cut short as Lockhart flung an arm around his shoulders and thundered jovially, "Shouldn't have asked! We meet again, Harry!" With Potter now pinned to Lockhart's side, Draco and I, smirking the whole way, slide into the hole and left.

We laughed soon as we were out of ear shot. Making fun of Potter and Weasley was almost too easy. Granger at least made things a bit interesting. I told the boys that though I hated to be a killjoy, we should head up to DADA class, as the bell was about (*RING*)… well, you can imagine.

We sat on the Slytherin side of the room towards the back, Crabbe and Goyle sitting next to each other at the table in front of Malfoy and me. We laughed behind our hands at the sight of Potter coming in with Lockhart and hiding behind the tall stack of books. Somewhere, deep in my not-so-bottomless soul, I pitied him, but now was not the time to dwell on such emotions. When the whole class was seated, Lockhart cleared his throat loudly, and the class immediately quieted down. The Professor leaned forward and picked up Neville Longbottom's copy of Travels with Trolls, and held it up to show the winking portrait.

"Me." He said, pointing at the portrait and winking as well. "Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most- Charming-Smile Award - but I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!" A couple of people, mostly Gryffindors, laughed weakly, while Draco and I shot each other a look. "I see you've all bought a complete set of my books - well done. I thought we'd start today with a little quiz. Nothing to worry about just to check how well you've read them, how much you've taken in–"He passed out the tests, and when he had finished, returned to the front of the classroom. "You have thirty minutes. Start… now!"

In typical Slytherin fashion, I had already been looking over the questions, preparing myself for a difficult and harassing test, and found one lying before me that was worse than I could have imagined. I sat, staring wide-eyed at the paper, and waited for Draco to also look at his before giving him my confused stare.

1. What is Gilderoy Lockhart 's favorite color.

2. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition.

3. What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date.

Having read the questions, Draco shared in my confusion. For three whole pages this went on, until the fifty-fourth question, which asked about Lockhart's birthday and ideal gift. I thought that I would probably ace this test… if I'd actually read all the books. I had read all of them except _Holidays with Hags_ and _Wanderings with Werewolves_, so I knew a lot of it, but it took some time for me to remember. What I did remember, though, I shared with Malfoy so he wouldn't do poorly on the test. Half an hour later, I gratefully handed them back.

"Hm, where is Miss Demetra Elixir?" I sent Draco a fast alarmed look, before carefully raising my hand. He gave me his 'charming smile', "Ten points to Slytherin, as Miss Elixir was the only one to remember that a darker shade of lilac is my favorite color." Malfoy nudged me, smiling. "A few of you, however, need to read _Wanderings with Werewolves_ more carefully, I clearly state in chapter twelve that my ideal birthday gift would be harmony between all magic and non-magic peoples - though I wouldn't say no to a large bottle of Ogdeds Old Firewhisky!" He gave us what he must call another roguish wink. Crabbe, Goyle, and Malfoy were shaking with laughter.

"… But Miss Hermione Granger knew my secret ambition is to rid the world of evil and market my own range of hair-care potions - good girl! In fact, full marks! Where is Miss Hermione Granger?" I glared at Lockhart, as I did not receive full marks when he spoke about me. Granger raised her hand. "Excellent! Quite excellent," he beamed, "Take ten points for Gryffindor! And so - to business-" Draco tried to whisper something to me, but no one noticed that the fire in the fireplace behind Lockhart's desk was now glowing green and black as I sat in the back of the classroom, glowering in anger.

Lockhart himself, however, had just pulled a covered cage out from behind his desk and set it on top of it. "Now - be warned! It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizardkind! You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this room. Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here. All I ask is that you remain calm." Some part of my brain wondered if he was about to show us a boggart, and in spite of my anger, I leaned forward a bit to get a better view. I noticed Neville, out of the corner of my eye, cowering in his front row seat. "I must ask you not to scream." He said softly. "It might provoke them!" He pulled off the cover, and I stifled a laugh. "Yes," he said dramatically, "Freshly caught Cornish pixies." One of the Gryffindors, Finnigan I think his name was, couldn't control himself. He let out a snort of laughter that even Lockhart couldn't mistake for a scream of terror. "Yes?" He smiled at Finnigan.

"Well, they're not, they're not very dangerous, are they?" The Gryffindor choked.

"Don't be so sure!" Lockhart said, waggling a finger annoyingly at Seamus. "Devilish tricky little blighters they can be!" The pixies were electric blue and about eight inches high, with pointed faces and voices so shrill it was like listening to a lot of budgies arguing. The moment the cover had been removed, they had started jabbering and rocketing around, rattling the bars and making bizarre faces at the people nearest them. "Right then," he said loudly, "Let's see what you make of them!"

… He opened the cage. I almost threw a book at him.

The pixies shot around the room in every direction, causing mayhem that would make Peeves proud. Two of them seized Neville by the ears and bodily lifted him off the ground. Several shot through the window by us, showering Draco and I with shattered glass. The rest proceeded to wreck the classroom more effectively than a rampaging rhino. They grabbed ink bottles and sprayed us with them, shredded books and papers, tore pictures from the walls, up-ended the waste basket, grabbed bags and books and threw them out of the smashed window; within minutes, half the class was sheltering under desks and Neville was swinging from the iron chandelier in the ceiling. If I wasn't so frightened, I would have probably laughed.

"Come on now, round them up! They're only pixies!" Lockhart shouted. He rolled up his sleeves, retrieved his wand, and bellowed, "Peskipiksi Pesternomi!" To absolutely no avail. One of the pixies actually took his wand and threw it out the window too. Lockhart gulped, and dived beneath his desk, narrowly missing being smashed by Neville and the now-loosed chandelier. The bell rang just then, and Draco and I were the first ones out the door, the rest of the class pushing their way through behind us.

We ran outside the castle, not stopping for breath until we reached the grounds. I leaned against the door, my breath very labored, as Draco ran another meter and let his knees give out beneath him. We had obviously lost Crabbe and Goyle, as they were nowhere in sight.

"He," I said between gasps, "is worse, than Professor, Quirrell ever was."

"Well," he started, also gasping, "At least he doesn't have a dark lord attached to the back of his head." I let out a mirthless chuckle. A moment passed, the only sounds being our heavy breathing.

"Hey, at least one thing's for sure." I said, and he looked at me to see a smirk cross my face, "Potter, Weasley and Granger are probably the ones having to put away the pixies right now." He grinned.

The next morning, the post came in with another letter from Mr. Malfoy, this one saying he'd placed the orders and that the new broomsticks ought to be there by nightfall. We went to double Herbology in Greenhouse 3 with the Ravenclaws, still grinning from ear to ear. Greenhouse 3, was very interesting, as it held more dangerous plants than Greenhouse 1, the one we had worked in all through our first year, had.

Professor Sprout was a stout little witch with a patched hat over curly grey hair. She was normally covered in earth, and her nails made Parkinson behind me make gagging noises. She was standing behind a trestle bench in the center of the greenhouse when we all got settled. About twenty pairs of different colored ear muffs were lying on the bench.

"We'll be repotting Mandrakes today. Now, who can tell me the properties of the Mandrake?" She asked, and I immediately raised my hand.

"Mandrake, or Mandragora, is a powerful restorative," I said, sounding bored, "It is used to return people who have been transfigured or cursed to their original state."

"Excellent. Ten points to Slytherin," said Professor Sprout. "The Mandrake forms an essential part of most antidotes. It is also, however, dangerous. Who can tell me why?" A Ravenclaw I'd never noticed before raised his hand.

"The cry of the Mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it." He said promptly, and he gave a soft smile as the professor awarded 10 points to Ravenclaw. I tried very hard to not stare openly. It was Blake Belcher, from Diagon Alley! He, of course, had no such reservations, and tried several times to catch my eye. I dutifully ignored him.

"Now, the Mandrakes we have here are still very young." She pointed to a row of deep trays as she spoke, and everyone shuffled forward for a better look. A hundred or so tufty little plants, purplish green in color, were growing there in rows. They looked quite unremarkable to the naked eye, or those who didn't have the slightest idea what Blake meant by the 'cry' of the Mandrake.

"Everyone take a pair of earmuffs." The professor continued. There was a scramble as everyone tried to seize a pair that wasn't pink and fluffy. I ended up with a green pair, and Draco's were black. "When I tell you to put them on, make sure your ears are completely covered," said Professor Sprout. "When it is safe to remove them, I will give you the thumbs-up. Right - earmuffs on." Harry snapped the earmuffs over his ears. They shut out sound completely. Professor Sprout put the pink, fluffy pair over her own ears, rolled up the sleeves of her robes, grasped one of the tufty plants firmly, and pulled hard.

I glanced over my shoulder, to giggle at Draco's surprised expression, and then turned back around.

Instead of roots, a small, muddy, and extremely ugly baby popped out of the earth. The leaves were growing right out of his head. He had pale green, mottled skin, and was clearly bawling at the top of his lungs. Professor Sprout took a large plant pot from under the table and plunged the Mandrake into it, burying him in dark, damp compost until only the tufted leaves were visible. Professor Sprout dusted off her hands, gave them all the thumbs-up, and removed her own earmuffs.

"As our Mandrakes are only seedlings, their cries won't kill yet," she said calmly as though she'd just done nothing more exciting than water a begonia. "However, they will knock you out for several hours, and as I'm sure none of you want to miss your first day back, make sure your earmuffs are securely in place while you work. I will attract your attention when it is time to pack up. Four to a tray, there is a large supply of pots here - compost in the sacks over there - and be careful of the Venemous Tentacula, it's teething." She gave a sharp slap to a spiky, dark red plant as she spoke, making it draw in the long feelers that had been inching sneakily over her shoulder.

I was hardly surprised when Blake came over and claimed Crabbe's spot at our tray. He stood, rooted to the ground between Goyle and me, and when he turned to give Vincent a 'shove-off' look, I gave Draco a withering look. Blake turned back to me and gave me a winning smile.

"Hello, love. Long time no see." I snapped on my headphones with a smirk. Draco shot me a few curious looks, indicating to Blake, but I would discreetly tell him that I would talk to him later about it.

In the mean time, we had Mandrakes, who were not at all happy about being replanted, to deal with. Draco tickled one of his, but then let his finger get too close and got bit by the plant. I let out a laugh that only I could hear, but Malfoy saw me and glared at me playfully.

It only took me two tries to figure out that the trick to replanting Mandrakes was to do it _quickly_. Give the first pull your best, conserving energy, throw it into the nearest empty pot possible, and start covering it with dirt as fast as you can. I don't think Draco, Blake, or Gregory ever got it, because they all got bit, kicked, scratched, and other wise attacked by their Mandrakes fairly consistently.

By the end of class, everyone was tired, achy, sweaty, and covered head-to-toe in dirt. I couldn't have been more thankful for this, though, because Blake could tell I was in no mood to talk… mostly because the sweat made him even more gorgeous than before, which really irritated me.

We wandered up to the castle and back down into the dungeons to bathe. I had never loved indoor plumbing as much as I did that day. I gingerly scrubbed my shoulder, the pain almost as bad as the day I'd gotten the deep green bruise that had formed there. I knew there was no way normal people were as delicate as I. The word 'roughhousing' would be a vulgar term. Yet, somehow, I was fragile goods. If mishandled, easily broken, as my shoulder and hip were a testament to.

When I got out of the shower, Draco, Flint, and the entire Quidditch team were in the common room, waiting for me.

"There you are. I understand you and Malfoy want to join the Slytherin Quidditch team?" We shot each other fast smiles, and then nodded. "Well, would either of you happen to be interested in playing Seeker? Our last one just graduated." Draco nodded again. "Good, here you are." Flint handed him a Nimbus 2001, the latest model and fastest racing broom in the modern wizarding world. He then examined me for a long minute, and then turned to one of the other big men standing next to him. "Hudson, you're off the team. Elixir, you're our new Chaser." He tossed the other broomstick to me, which I easily caught. "Either of you have a free period?" I nodded. "Good, come on then. We'll test out your skills."

Although he had troll-like appearances and personality, if there was one good thing that could be said about Marcus Flint, it was that he had an eye for talent. Just by looking at someone he could tell what they were good at. Especially when it came to Quidditch. Unfortunately, his only strategy is usually 'beat the crap out of the opposing team', instead of any actual plans. Saves him a lot of time and energy, which is why he's the only Quidditch Captain with half-way decent grades.

Flint was, of course, right when it came to which position I would play best. Turned out I was actually probably the best Chaser on the team once I figured out all the rules. Yeah, sure, I liked the Tutshill Tornadoes, as my entire family had been for generations past, but that didn't mean that I thought I'd be any good as a player. My petite-ness, however, came in handy, as I was fairly aerodynamic on a broomstick and had almost deadly accuracy.

It took all of my will power not show how much pain I had to endure in order to throw with my injured arm, but Flint still noticed it wasn't as strong as the other. I finally just had to show him the bruise to explain why I couldn't throw the Quaffle as far as I was saying I could. I dodged the what-happened question, and told him that if I could find some kind of ointment for it, it'd be better before the first match of the season. He nodded, pushed me into the dirt so I landed on the shoulder, and then whispered for me to holler out like I was in a lot of pain. I did so, more because I actually was in a lot of pain and less because he told me to. He picked me up, said to other guys that he'd be back, that I'd tripped and fallen and wanted Madam Pomfrey to see me.

Once we were out of sight, let me walk up to the hospital wing. The nurse gave me an ointment which she said to put on every hour on the hour, and when Flint turned around to give me some privacy so I could lower my shirt to put the ointment on, asked me how I got it. I told her I'd tripped during practice, but she gave me a look that told me she knew I was lying, but wasn't going to ask further. I was grateful, as I didn't feel like explaining how I'd really gotten it. I didn't need Draco, or anyone for that matter, finding out how fragile I am.


	14. Chamber of Secrets Chapter 3

The next morning, we were all rudely awakened at dawn by Flint, who demanded that we get in some practice. As we were all getting ready, he went up to find Madam Hooch and ask if anyone had booked the pitch for the day. He came back sometime later with a permission slip from Professor Snape in his hand.

I didn't miss him checking out my form, as I'd chosen a short black skirt (it was still warm outside, after all), grey tights, black slip-ons, a strapless white undershirt, a white tank top, and Slytherin scarf. As a matter a fact, I hadn't missed most of the boys, even Draco, in my year sneaking stares at me. It really didn't help that my bust had filled in some over the summer, although if Mother's form was anything to judge by, I was far from done.

When we got to the pitch, mouse boy was up in the stands clicking away on his camera, taking pictures of the Gryffindor team as they practiced. Granger and Weasley were also up there, watching. George Weasley, identical twin of Fred Weasley and fellow troublemaker, had just pointed at us and said something to Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch team captain to call his attention. The captain, in his anger, shot to the ground and staggered slightly as he dismounted his broom. Harry Potter, Fred, and George followed close behind.

"Flint!" Wood bellowed at our captain. "This is our practice time! We got up specially! You can clear off now!" I knew that Marcus was large, but I had never realized how big he really is until he stood in front of Wood.

"Plenty of room for all of us, Wood." He replied as the Gryffindor Chasers came over, too. I was certain that from where they stood, they couldn't even see Draco and I.

"But I booked the field!" said Wood, positively spitting with rage. "I booked it!"

"Ah," Flint again replied, "But I've got a specially signed note here from Professor Snape. `I, Professor S. Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practice today on the Quidditch field owing to the need to train their new Seeker and Chaser."

"You've got a new Seeker and Chaser." Wood stated, distracted now, "Where?" The five large figures in front of us moved aside, and Draco and I walked up, smirking.

"Aren't you Lucius Malfoy's son?" Fred asked, looking at Malfoy with dislike. I noticed that he and his brother wouldn't look me in the eye.

"Funny you should mention Draco's father," Flint said as our whole team smiled still more broadly. "Let me show you the generous gift he's made to the Slytherin team." All seven of us held out our broomsticks. Seven highly polished, brand-new handles and seven sets of fine gold lettering spelling the words Nimbus Two Thousand and One gleamed under the Gryffindors' noses in the early morning sun. "Very latest model. Only came out last month," Marcus continued carelessly, flicking a speck of dust from the end of his own. "I believe it outstrips the old Two Thousand series by a considerable amount. As for the old Cleansweeps"- he smiled nastily at Fred and George, who were both clutching Cleansweep Fives – "sweeps the board with them." I chuckled at his words. None of the Gryffindor team could think of anything to say for a moment. Malfoy was smirking so broadly his cold eyes were reduced to slits. "Oh, look," Flint went on, "A field invasion." Ron and Hermione were crossing the grass to see what was going on.

"What's happening?" Ron asked Harry. "Why aren't you playing? And what're they doing here?" He was looking at Draco and I, taking in our Slytherin Quidditch robes.

"We're the new Slytherin Chaser and Seeker, Weasley." I told him smugly, unable to help myself.

"Everyone's just been admiring the brooms my father's bought our team." Ron gaped, open-mouthed, at the seven superb broomsticks in front of him. "Good, aren't they?" Draco continued smoothly. "But perhaps the Gryffindor team will be able to raise some gold and get new brooms, too. You could raffle off those Cleansweep Fives; I expect a museum would bid for them." The Slytherin team howled with laughter.

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in," said Hermione sharply. "They got in on pure talent." The smug look on Malfoy's face flickered while I glared at her. I had gotten in on pure talent, thank you very much!

"No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood." He spat at her.

Several things happened at once after he said that. Flint, namely, dived in front of him to stop Fred and George from tackling him. One of the Chasers on the other team shrieked, "How dare you!"; and Ron pulled out his wand from his robes, yelling, "You'll pay for that one, Malfoy!" Everything, however, stopped after this, as a loud bang sounded that echoed all around the stadium. Ron flew backwards, a bright green light having shot out, and for a minute I thought he'd used one of the Unforgiveable Curses on himself by accident.

"Ron! Ron! Are you alright?" Hermione squealed as she ran to his side. He opened his mouth to speak as he sat up, but instead of words, a mighty belch and several fat slugs dribbled out of his mouth and onto his lap.

Our team was petrified with laughter. Flint was doubled up, using his broomstick for support. Draco was next to me, on all fours, banging the ground with his fist. I was lying down on my back, laughing so hard I could hardly breathe. The other team left after that, and we were allowed to practice in peace.

Draco wasn't a half bad Seeker. A good eye and a bit smaller than even me, he was a quick little thing. I was glad we had both earned our places on the team… but something bothered me about the way it did seem as though we'd bought our way onto the team. I tried shrugging it off, but it wouldn't leave me alone for the rest of the day.

Draco, however, hadn't forgotten about Blake.

"So," he started that afternoon during our free period. I was lying on my stomach on one of the couches, doing a Potions essay, and he had been (allegedly, though I knew better) studying for a Transfiguration test tomorrow. "Who's the Ravenclaw?" I made the mistake (that I'm usually careful to avoid) of avoiding his eyes.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I could almost see him roll his eyes.

"Yes, you do. Herbology. Yesterday. Kicked Crabbe out of our group so he could stand next to you. I'm not blind, Dem." I sighed.

"Yet somehow, I wish you were." I sat up straight and stared at him seriously. "What do you want to know?"

"When did you meet him?" He was staring straight into my eyes, making me a bit uneasy. I could tell how serious he was about this.

"On my way to Flourish and Blotts when we went to Diagon Alley a few weeks ago."

"How did you meet him?"

"You know how I get. I was deep in thought about something silly or another, and we collided. When he asked where I was headed, I told him, and he asked if he could accompany me. We separated at the door. I didn't even know he went to Hogwarts, he never mentioned school. I only realized it when he answered Professor Sprout's question about the Mandrakes." A pause as he took this in, "Believe me, Draco, if I thought at all there was a chance I was going to run into him ever again, I would have warned you." Another small pause, and then he nodded again.

"I believe you. If he bothers you again, tell me." I nodded, and he got up to come sit next to me. I leaned my head on his shoulder, and heard him mutter about bloody Ravenclaws trying to get involved with people above them. "What's his name, anyway?"

"Blake Belcher." He stiffened a bit, and I looked up at him. "What's wrong?"

"I thought… No, I must be mistaken…" Was my answer.

October came, and with it a change of season, as well as an onslaught of disease. Both Draco and I came down with a cold, but Madam Pomfrey's Pepperup Potion, although it made our ears smoke for a while, helped us get through classes.

Rain pelted our windows and the grounds above the Slytherin dorms. The lake rose several inches, the flowerbeds turned to mud, and pumpkins I could see from the castle in Hagrid's backyard were the size of some of the fifth years. Even though he could be called 'lazy', Flint still kept the team practicing as much as possible. He wanted Draco and I to get used to our positions and learning all the rules, specifically the ones that we could break and get away with, while also getting used to the speed of our new brooms that made us shoot around so fast we were green blurs.

The Halloween feast approached, and I didn't see Potter at it, to my surprise. I had been "looking for him" for Draco, or, in reality, looking to see if Blake was there. Not because I was hoping he'd be there! But he'd gotten into this weird habit of staring at me from across the Great Hall during mealtimes. It was… awkward.

The oddest thing about the feast was the seeming lack of ghosts. You would think, being a _Halloween_ feast, they'd be living it up. But, strangely, even the Bloody Baron who had grown accustomed to sitting across from me, they were all gone.

Just like any other mealtime, though, the feast quickly came and went. I ate my food, didn't really talk to anyone, and just felt Draco's familiar presence next to me and Blake's stare from across the room. Soon enough, we were dismissed, and headed for the dungeons. To our great shock, however, we were greeted down one of the halls by the sight of the Golden Trio staring at Mrs. Norris, who had been petrified and hanging from a torch by her tail, along with words written in blood on the wall. Draco suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled me forward.

"Enemies of the Heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!" He shouted above the quiet, his usually dead-looking face alive for the first time outside of Quidditch practice. I tried to grin as well, realizing what this meant.

"What's going on here? What's going on?" Attracted no doubt by Malfoy's shout, Argus Filch came shouldering his way through the crowd. Then he saw Mrs. Norris and fell back, clutching his face in horror. "My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris?" He shrieked, and looking around, his popping eyes fell on Harry. "You!" He screeched. "You! You've murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll-"

"Argus!" Dumbledore had arrived on the scene, followed by a number of other teachers. In seconds, he had swept past Harry, Ron, and Hermione and detached Mrs. Norris from the torch bracket. "Come with me, Argus," he said to Filch. "You, too, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger." Lockhart suddenly stepped forward eagerly.

"My office is nearest, Headmaster - just upstairs - please feel free -"

"Thank you, Gilderoy," said Dumbledore. The silent crowd parted to let them pass. Lockhart, looking excited and important, hurried after Dumbledore; so did Professors McGonagall and Snape. Soon as they were gone, I walked up to the writing to find out what it said.

_THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED._

_ENEMIES OF THE HEIR BEWARE_

"You know the legend, don't you?" Draco whispered behind my shoulder suddenly, surprising me. I hadn't heard him approach. I shrugged noncommittally.

"I've heard of the legend, and I know bits and pieces, but not the whole story." I could see his smirk out of the corner of my eye.

"C'mon," he pulled me into an empty classroom, "The legend goes that awhile after the founders started Hogwarts, Slytherin and the others started fighting, because he didn't want to let Muggle-borns in. "I nodded, knowing this part, "But, before he left, he built the Chamber of Secrets, which he sealed so that no one but his own heir could open it. His heir would then purge the school of all those unworthy to learn magic." I had closed my eyes while he spoke, thinking deeply about whom it could be. Obviously Draco had come to mind, but he would have told me. Still, wouldn't hurt to ask. My eyes opened wearily, as though I had been carrying a heavy burden for a long time.

"Draco, it isn't you, is it?" He scoffed.

"Of course not, don't you think I would have told you if I was the heir of Salazar Slytherin?" He sneered out at me, and I pursed my lips. "Oh no, don't tell me you're going to try and find out who it was like last year with the Stone?" He moaned, and I smirked.

"Of course, you dolt, now come on. I want to look into the Slytherin family tree." He quirked an eyebrow at me as I turned to leave.

"You honestly think that'll just be lying around?" I chuckled.

"No, but I bet the Ministry has kept detailed records of the more notable magical families for generations, and obviously the Slytherin family would be one of them, although there's probably been a daughter in there somewhere that's had to have the family name changed to something else."

"So how are you going to do it?" I pursed my lips again, as was my habit when I was deep in thought.

"Well, either of our father's would have access to those kinds of records, I think. I'll write home and ask my father if he could look into it for me _before_ he finds out about the attack."

I sent Orion bearing a letter to Father that evening before I went down to dinner. That night, and for the next few days following, were filled with talk about the attack on Mrs. Norris. Filch wasn't helping things any, the way he paced at the spot where she had been attacked, like he was expecting the culprit to return. He'd been seen by a Slytherin 4th year scrubbing the message on the wall with Mrs. Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover, but it was no use, as the words still gleamed when the light caught them. When he wasn't guarding the spot where his cat had been attacked, Filch was skulking the corridors with puffy, red eyes, lunging out at any students that were "breathing loudly" or "looking happy". A small part of me pitied him, but it was just a small part.

The next week or so was strange, when rumors were spreading that Potter was the heir of Slytherin. Draco and I literally laughed out when we heard that. Actually, Draco laughed about it for several days. It just made me chuckle about how people in this school would believe _anything_. But then, people had been saying for a long time that Potter was probably a really powerful Dark wizard, to have been able to defeat Voldemort all those years ago.


End file.
